Customer Reviews

Not Sousa: Great Marches Not by John Philip Sousa, Vol. 1

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Here is another example of the blatant piracy of Marine Band performances by Altissimo. This recording
has been taken from various Marine band recordings and performances and misleads the public in believing that they (Altissimo) were involved in the creative process. There is no crediting of date of performance and more importantly no conductor credits. And I can easily verify that, as I am one of the conductors not credited on a substantial amount of the recordings.
Colonel John R. Bourgeois, USMC ret.
Director Emeritus, United States Marine Band

It is The President's Own and the playing on this is superb. However the recordings were obviously done at many different times and lack a consistent sound quality. Most of these marches appear on some other recording I own, but I was stoked to find all of them on a Marine Corps Band CD. My excitement dwindled with the sonic quality. Oh well.

Despite putting together a CD of non-Sousa marches (something very hard for Altissimo! to do) there is really nothing new and interesting here. Most of the marches taken from the Marine band Library are very popular works that are almost as well known in the USA as Sousa himself! Altissimo! managed to cull some stuff from the Marine Band library and threw them together onto a CD with a catchy cover! The reason why some tracks may sound different is because they are from different years under different directors. Most mature record labels tell you when recordings were taken, and who conducted. Not with Altissimo! The result is that you are not getting an accurate idea how the Marine Band sounds today. Many of these marches have been previously released from the Musical Heritage Society who have recorded the Marines numerous times over the years. Altissimo! probably gained the rights to some of these recordings and threw them in as is. The linear notes are an improvement from the past when they were non-existant! I love the Marine band, and getting them on a CD like this is better than nothing, but for the price and over all quality this is a second rate product.