The Original All-American Sousa!

Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 11, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Delos Records
• ASIN: B0000006XO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,675 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Glory of the Yankee Navy - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

2. New York Hippodrome - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

3. Solid Men to the Front! - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

4. Sabre and Spurs - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

5. U.S. Field Artillery March - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

6. Pride of Pittsburgh - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

7. Free Lance - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

8. Semper Fidelis - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

9. Royal Welch Fusiliers - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

10. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

11. Jack Tar - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

12. Stars and Stripes Forever - Keith Brion & His New Sousa Band

13. John Philip Sousa Speaks [Broadcast] - John Philip Sousa

14. Stars and Stripes Forever [Broadcast]

15. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine

16. Dauntless Battalion

17. Sabre and Spurs

18. Solid Men to the Front!

19. Liberty Loan

20. U.S. Field Artillery March

Editorial Reviews

Fanfare Magazine

...brings us as close to the real effect of Sousa's band as we are probably ever to get... a most important disc for anyone with a love of this music and a desire to hear how it ought to be made to sound.

From the Artist

While there will never be another "Sousa and his Band," this recording is an homage to both Sousa (1854-1932) and his renowned band (1892-1932). The spirit and letter of the original are framed in the perspective of modern musicians, modern instruments and modern recording techniques. Our efforts are infused, informed and inspired by Sousa's original band. The musical speech of the 1920s inflects the technique and style of the 90s.

The band uses Sousa's original seating plan. While original instruments are not used throughout, attention has been given to the selection of modern equipment most closely approximating the sound of the original cornets, trombones and percussion. The saxophone section, all members of the Manhattan Saxophone Ensemble, use the mouthpieces and the tonal conception of the 1920s. -- Keith Brion

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow to Fix Mistake, March 28, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Original All-American Sousa! (Audio CD)

A fairly pedestrian but serviceable set of performances by the New Sousa Band. But the real attraction of this CD is the "Historical" section, containing selections from three sessions of the Sousa band from 1917, 1918, and 1923, as well as a short radio speech by Sousa himself from a 1929 radio broadcast. The band recordings are notable for being the only released ones with Sousa himself conducting, among the hundreds of "Sousa Band" recordings. (Arthur Pryor conducted many.) These six were acoustic recordings, of the expected quality. Unfortunately, among them are two -- tracks 16 (Nobles of the Mystic Shrine) and 17 (Dauntless Battalion) -- in which Delos inexplicably has the left and right channels out of phase. This gives a very strange effect on mono material. If you have a preamp with a left-only, right-only, or L-R mono position, use it. Otherwise turn the balance all the way left or right or reverse the leads on one speaker. I wrote Delos about this in 1990, and they said they knew about it and would fix it. I just did so again (March 2000) and it was still not fixed. They say they will fix it when they remanufacture, with no comments on when. This is a shame for such a valuable collection. Delos' enclosed notes are exemplary.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful performances, June 11, 2010

By 

R. E. Simmons - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Original All-American Sousa! (Audio CD)

This is one of the finest recordings of Sousa marches I have ever heard. The band is technically brilliant. The balance, blend, and intonation is superb. The percussion playing, particularly the bass drum/cymbals are played with keen insight into Sousa's style. The euphonium playing is top-notch. I've heard recordings of many other bands doing Sousa projects, such as the Detroit Concert Band under Leonard Smith, the Eastman recordings with Fennell, and others. This one has the best combination of interpretive sparkle, attention to detail, and a truly fine band. The later recordings with the Royal Artillery Band, while stylistically very good, do not match the playing to be heard here. The only better band would be "The President's Own" and they don't have the advantage of Keith Brion's touch. This album is a joy to listen to. There are some historic recordings of Sousa and while interesting, really don't hold a candle to these modern recordings.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mistake is fixed, October 22, 2011

By 

S. Dakin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Original All-American Sousa! (Audio CD)

Keith Brion and his New Sousa Band are about as close as we can get to experiencing Sousa's marches the way Sousa himself performed them, with respect to tempo, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation, and phrasing. Their performances are based on meticulous research into Sousa's perfomance practices, and I feel they capture the spirit of Sousa better than any others on record. They have an elan and lift missing so often missing from performances by other bands. (Let's not even get into orchestras!) The historical performances conducted by Sousa are a real treat -- the sound quality is remarkably good for when they were recorded, and the individual parts come through amazingly well. As for the L and R channels being out of phase for a couple of the historical tracks (mentioned by another reviewer), that is definitely NOT the case with the copy I just purchased. Highly recommended, both as a day-brightener and as a lesson on how to perform these splendid marches.