Tribute

Ken Gilbert

Jamie Ford, an ex-member of Dalewool Auckland Brass and close friend of Ken Gilbert pays tribute to the late, great Ken Gilbert.

When the Boeing 737 plane I was travelling in took off from Christchurch to bring me home for Ken’s funeral, the power of the engines thrusting that plane into the air brought to mind Ken’s clear view of matters, “When you need ‘grunt’, you can’t beat cubic capacity and those big GE motors”, he would comment when we travelled to contests. That’s why he had leased a 6-litre Commodore shortly before his untimely death. And that’s what he brought to the bottom end of the band – heaps of grunt. Along with that went genuine musical talent that would have enabled him to take the principal’s chair in any major orchestra, if had chosen a career in music.

Fortunately for the Brass Band scene of NZ, and the Dalewool Band (and it’s many forerunners) in particular, Ken’s talent was expressed in his command of the euphonium, and his outstanding contribution to that band, and a number of National Bands Of New Zealand. He set a standard that many younger players aspired to, and has had an influence well beyond anything he ever dreamed of.

It was a great delight to him, and a story he liked to re-tell, of the day David Bremner came into the band room at Onehunga and met him face-to-face. “Kenny, Kenny Gilbert!”, said David with an expression of awe. The delight for Ken was in that he personally had great admiration for David’s ability, and had never considered that he might be held in high regard by the likes of David. Earlier this year at the Auckland Regional Solo’s Mathew Van Emmerik, The Australian Eupho Champion and Champion of Champions, spoke in tribute about the inspiring impact Ken’s playing had on him, and he mentioned this again to me during the National Contest here in NZ.

Growing up in Marton, with his Dad (Kingi senior) conducting the local band naturally led to Ken to taking up a brass instrument, and before long he found favour with the euphonium, the prince of brass instruments, and it found favour with him. Ken was a smart guy, and maybe he had wisdom beyond his years, as he figured out early on that he lacked the hand and eye co-ordination to succeed at the highest level in our national game of rugby, but he could take his talent to the top if he focused on playing the eupho. The number of Euphonium Championship titles he won, bears the wisdom of that out.

Moving to Hamilton with his family provided the opportunity to step up to lead the eupho’s, and to display his considerable talent as a soloist. Then when he moved to Auckland to study, his abilities were welcomed by the Auckland City, and then Dalewool bands respectively. Ken was the man for the big occasion, and many of us will recall that playing at the races, and being on show in the eye of the public for those kind of gigs was not for Ken. He thrived under the pressure of fierce competition, and a test piece that had a big critical solo part for the eupho. It must have been a disappointment to him when the NZBBA changed the rules and stopped giving the results for the Hymn and Test prior to the Own Choice. Knowing there was a points gap to bridge, and a big solo to deliver, absolutely delighted him. He believed he could make a difference, and on many occasions he did, right when it was needed. He had the temperament and composure for the big occasion that matched his playing ability.

Ken lived his life in primary colours and gave his opinion without fear or favour, but without malice either generally. Not for him shades of pastel, you knew where you stood in his estimation. He wanted to win, and expected the same focus on doing what was necessary from every playing member of the band as he gave to it.
I can imagine his comments regarding the A Grade Test for the 2007 Contest. “Unprintable” probably best describes them! If he was planning to enter the Eupho Championship and the solo selected wasn’t up to scratch, he worked the phone getting the leading eupho players on the same page, and then advised the NZBBA that if they wanted a Eupho Championship, here were the pieces they could choose from, and what had been promulgated could be consigned to the bin. What a pity the A Grade conductors hadn’t taken a leaf from his book this year …

Nothing gave Ken more satisfaction than to win the Band Championship in the home-town of the arch enemy Woolston. If we won in Christchurch it meant celebrating big-time, but Ken didn’t want to celebrate at our pub. No! He set off to find them, and celebrate winning the title in their pub. On a few occasions I thought we’d be lucky to get back home with our skins intact.

His list of accomplishments is worth recalling:
6 National Euphonium Titles – 76, 78, 82, 83, 86, 88
 Runner-up to Ross McGavin in the Inaugural Errol Mason Memorial Brass Musician of the Year Contest (An International Contest for the Top Soloists of the Brass Band World)
Member of the National Band – 74, 76, 78
Champion of Champions 1986

Ken hated administration with a passion and the laborious work of putting events together was not for him, so it was fortuitous that when the idea of the Errol Mason Memorial Contest came to him, Ed Yearbury was on hand as President of Continental Airlines Auckland Brass to take the idea and run with it, making it a sought after prize.

Ken aspired to emulate the great British players and produce the sound of the likes of Lyndon Baglin and John Clough, and those of us who heard John in his prime as the Principal Euphonium of Black Dyke, would probably agree that he succeeded in reproducing that wonderful rich and full sound, and the LP’s and CD’s featuring him as soloist and principal bear testimony to that. Having Ken Cant play “Grandfather’s Clock” at his funeral with that same big sound was a wonderful and moving tribute to Ken’s fine playing.

It was a great delight for Ken to meet his boyhood hero, John Clough, during the 97 Contest in New Plymouth. We had moved across the road from the Band’s pub to a place more in keeping with our view of what was right for a couple of businessmen from Auckland. Unbeknown to us this was also the accommodation for NZBBA officials. We were at breakfast one morning early on, and a couple of gentlemen with English accents sat down at an adjacent table. Curiosity got the better of us and we introduced ourselves only to find that we were breakfasting with John Clough, and Richard Evans the Chief Adjudicator. Well, a lively discussion ensured during which Ken found it necessary to probe Richard Evans regarding various composers. Much to our alarm we got too much information when Richard Evans spoke about the composer of our Own Choice in very scathing terms. From that moment we both were resolved that the hat-trick was gone, but neither of us had the heart to mention it to Nigel, or any members of the band.

For those who only knew Ken in the context of brass banding there were many more dimensions to his character. He was a very capable and astute businessman whose sound advice has contributed greatly to a number of successful business enterprises. He had a unique way of getting to the heart of the issue quickly. He could simplify matters, and perhaps this valuable capability is best expressed in the way he came to be a successful chartered accountant with his own firm.

While studying zoology at university it dawned on him that zoology was probably not going to cut it when it came to meeting the financial requirements of home and family. So he got out the yellow pages, and on finding that the accounting firms had the biggest ads., promptly decided that was where the money was, and that he would switch to accounting and cross credit as many papers as possible. It’s a great testimony to his powers of intellect that he made the switch successfully, taking up accounting positions in business, then a partnership at Wylie McDonald, and finally on to the establishment of his own firm in the mid-90’s.

As well as being competitive Ken was capable of considerable compassion, and found many opportunities to assist those who were less fortunate than himself. In the late 90’s he met Maria Humphreys, and as their love for each other blossomed and flourished he gladly committed himself to their relationship, and the care of her eldest daughter Rachel. Rachel was seriously disabled because of an illness, and needed full-time care at home. Ken won his way into her heart by coming home at the end of each working day and spending significant time with her, reading to her and attending to her needs. Those of us who were at Rachel’s funeral about 9 months before Ken’s, could never doubt his genuine care for Rachel, after hearing him speak so movingly in his tribute to her that sad day.

Ken’s musical talents were not restricted to playing the eupho, and he was a driving force in the establishment of the “Sweet Charity” gig band, in which he played bass guitar, and trombone, and sousaphone for the “Beer Band” jobs. Towards the end of the 90’s Ken took up conducting the Artillery Band, leading them into era of innovative concerts and creditable contest performances. Shortly after giving up that position Continental Airlines Auckland Brass needed a fill-in conductor and Ken applied himself to that role with some vigour.

His contribution to the band over that period of time is probable best summed up in the words of Darryl Priestley, principal trombone, who said, “Ken just gave me so much confidence. We were playing at the Browns Bay Bowling Club Centenary, and I wasn’t sure about my solo, so I told Ken I wasn’t sure I could do it, and he just said, “You’re the solo trombone player Darryl, of course you can play it!’ And I did.”

Coming back into the band as principal eupho shortly after that added a new dimension to the band’s sound. A sound that stood us in good stead at many contests. Being made a life member of the band was an appropriate way to recognise his contribution to the bands playing capability over quite a long period of time.

Did he have a sense of humour? He sure did, and seeing how far we could push the “Akubra Club” was part of that, along with the breakfast at the Darling Harbour Ibis hotel he still owes Kevie for. The story of Prince Charles, the Queen’s dead corgi, the Leprechaun granting wishes, and the possibilities of making Camilla beautiful was a favourite of his when things were not looking good. “Well now”, he’d say, Let’s have another look at that corgi.”

For more than 12 years Ken combined his banding with another fiercely competitive activity, Waka Ama, or outrigger canoe racing.  And that same competitive spirit was well expressed in this demanding sport. Maria doesn’t have many photo’s but she does have a lot of his medals for wins and places in sprint races, and short, and long distance races. Those races include 3 entries in the Molokai Island to Waikiki Beach race in Hawaii. That’s a 70km blue water race with about 200 canoes taking part. There’s 9 men making up a crew with 6 seats in the canoe, and crew members change places on the move. The support boat drops 3 swimmers in the water ahead of the canoe every 20 minutes and as the canoe comes alongside they grab hold and climb in, while 3 dive out to be picked up by the support boat and take a 20-minute break. So it’s 40 minutes on and 20 minutes off for the duration of the race. My first long distance race with Ken was on the Waitemata Harbour and we were out racing for over 7 hours. Ken’s place was always in the centre of the canoe, the engine room, where he could let loose all the physical grunt he could muster. On occasions he broke the shaft of his paddle as he applied that grunt. That takes really superior strength.
As you might expect Ken was selected to represent New Zealand in this sport too.

After retiring from banding Ken bought his own single-man canoe and got stuck into excelling at this type of solo sport, and at the time of his death was leading his age group for the Auckland 10k race series. Whenever I was over at his office he took some delight in going to the website and showing me his standing in the results.

His most lasting contribution to Waka Ama was the inaugural Takapuna Beach Races, held for the first time in February this year. Those were two very happy days. Kingi Junior was out in his canoe winning. Zella, Ameria and Merenia were there with Ameria’s children. Anna, Ken’s stepdaughter, was helping with the admin, and Maria and her dad were there to support Ken, and to enjoy the fun in the sun. I hope that event continues on as a memorial event in honour of Ken’s contribution to the sport.

On the Tauranga Harbour on Saturday 31st March his heart gave out as he came to the end of his last race with the no 1 crew in the Taniwha Grizzlies Team. Right to the end of his life Ken was a winner, and they won that race that day too. That’s the way he would wish to be remembered, on top of his game, and it’s a great loss that he’s not with us now to continue enriching our lives in so many ways.

Maria has asked me to pass on to the band her sincere and grateful thanks for the very moving way in which the band played it’s own unique tribute to Ken playing at his funeral in those special moments prior to the service. Maria is especially grateful to Kev and Nigel, for organising the band, and for the choice of music. Many people, who were not aware of Ken’s connection with the band, spoke to Maria about how much they were moved by the band’s playing that day.

There’s much more that can be recounted about the life of a truly valued friend and great player, but it will keep for an occasion when we get together to remember Ken in the style that only the band can.

Jamie Ford
(Jamie is an ex-member of Dalewool Auckland Brass and close friend of Ken Gilbert)