In a special edition of our Frank Renton on Brass free podcast, Frank marks the death of James Shepherd, the former principal cornet of the Black Dyke Mills Band, and the founder of the James Shepherd Versatile Brass ensemble. He passed away on Thursday 22nd June, aged 86.

When he recorded this short podcast, Frank said:
"I’m talking about one of my dearest and oldest friends and colleagues, Jim Shepherd, known affectionately by everyone in the business as Gentleman Jim.

That he’s one of the great cornet players of all time goes without saying but his skills as a teacher and mentor to others is often overlooked.

He is simply one of the most natural musicians you could ever meet, and passing on what he knows to others is as natural as everything else.

He remains one of the most liked and respected musicians that I've been privileged to know."

He will be very sadly missed.

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Our Track of the Week comes from a young trumpet player who is gradually forging a reputation as an international soloist who we like to think had her first taste of fame as the winner of the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass award way back in 2014. It's Matilda Lloyd and it's delightful!

Frank's second track is in his opinion one of the greatest pieces ever written for the brass band, and in 1991 he and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band were to give the first performance of the music as reward for being selected as BBC Band of the Year.

"Its sheer virtuosity is remarkable, and conducting it is truly one of the high points of my long musical career. So, enjoy the The Grimethorpe Colliery Band, playing Paganini Variations by Philip Wilby. The stuff of genius!"

This is the last free podcast of this series, but we'll be back with a longer free podcast after the Summer, with news, reviews and interviews and some more truly wonderful music, so until then from Frank, it's "Thanks for listening and bye now!".

For more information on Frank Renton on Brass just visit our website at www.frankrentononbrass.com.

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In this Frank Renton on Brass free podcast, Frank shares his Track of the Week and a piece of music that conjures up a memory from his life in music.

The memory this week is one from the early 1970s when Frank was Band Master of the Gordon Highlanders and failed to convince his commanding officer that he hadn't just conducted a lot of wrong notes with the conclusion that he'd tried to be too clever by half!

Frank's Track of the Week is a brilliant band that seemed to come out of nowhere and took the world by storm.

Enjoy some magical note playing - and yes they are the right ones!

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For twenty three years I was the writer and presenter of Listen to the Band on BBC Radio 2, an enjoyable and fascinating job, especially after thirty odd years as a member of the Armed Services.

Part of the programme was to interview people making news in the band world, and none was more interesting than the composer Nigel Hess who achieved fame as a composer for the theatre, film and television.

We start this podcast featuring Nigel Hess' three short ‘pictures’, inspired by several visits to a small part of the American East Coast, an area which provides great extremes in both the geography and the people.

If that's the entree, then dessert is the thrill of hearing three great cornet players working together brilliantly. Featuring David Dawes, Roger Webster and Jim Shepherd, with the Fairey Band conducted by Stephen Cobb playing The Heralds by tuba virtuoso Philip Catelinet.

It's an absolute musical feast!

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My Track of the Week this week features a young woman, Matilda Lloyd, whose fortunes I have followed ever since she won the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Award in 2014, accompanied by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band with me conducting them. The track's just brilliant and she's proving to be a complete trumpet star.

My second piece of music this week is also a bit special, certainly to me, not in any high flown emotional or intellectual context, but because of the sheer fun and enjoyment that the music has created. It will certainly get your toes tapping, metaphorically at least!

I first heard it in the 1990s not long after it first appeared, I’ve conducted it lots of times and it never fails to thrill, but this version is quite something else.

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I never really mastered playing this piano solo by Debussy but when I discovered a wonderfully sensitive arrangement for band I knew it would make a perfect and totally unexpected encore for my concerts with Grimethorpe.

In my second selection, The Beatles' music has echoed down the decades and with Liverpool in the centre of things last weekend for Eurovision I’ve included a simply staggering arrangement of Get Back as you’ve never heard it before.

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Two contrasting pieces vie for attention this week both of which I love dearly.

My Track of the Week reflects the formality of a Royal Coronation as commissioned from William Walton for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. It absolutely captures the grandeur and ceremony of such an important occasion and I think it's a masterpiece and it's played here by Black Dyke.

Our second choice this week is the complete opposite and has always given me great enjoyment, in the form of wonderfully organised musical chaos written and somehow controlled by American composer, Charles Ives.

Written in 1903, it can sound a complete mess unless performed perfectly, as it is here by the President's Own Band of the United States Marine Corp. Enjoy!

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Almost 100 years ago George Gershwin was hard at work writing Rhapsody in Blue, as Gershwin later told his biographer,
"it was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer.... I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise. And there I suddenly heard—and even saw on paper—the complete construction of the rhapsody, from beginning to end."

It’s been re-scored many times including by Gordon Goodwin for his own Big Phat Band, which is where Chad Shoopman leading the trumpet section would have heard it, before making his own ambitious version for brass band which I'm featuring in this episode. It's quite brilliant!

I first encountered the music of Geronimo Gimenez on a memorable balmy summer night in Spain, where I heard The Intermezzo from his Zarzuela, titled The Wedding of Louis Alonso and I’ve loved it ever since. Hear why in this latest edition of my free podcast.

For more information on Frank Renton on Brass just visit our website at www.frankrentononbrass.com.

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