The Clarence Adoo Band

Conductor: Doctor Howard Evans
Hadleigh Temple Songsters
Conductor: Paul Hillson
Hadleigh Temple
Saturday 17th July

Clarence Adoo suffered serious injuries in a car accident in 1995 but, due to a quirk in the insurance company’s regulations, was not eligible to compensation.

The Clarence Adoo Trust was therefore established to help provide the support he needs, with the Clarence Adoo Band coming together periodically to assist in fund-raising.

Many of its members are friends and colleagues, and the Hadleigh line-up included several musicians and principal players from various bands.

Clarence was brought up in the Salvation Army Corps at Shoeburyness, holding the position of bandmaster at the time of his accident, so it was something of a home-coming, particularly with conductor Howard Evans hailing from Southend.

Sparkling opener

From the opening of the sparkling march ‘Celebration’ it was clear that it was going to be a good evening, with crisp articulation, full sound and a wide dynamic range. Having strong players on the secondary parts ensured balance, and the cornet counter-melody in the final section was played with panache.

Clarence himself was the compère, and it was most moving to hear him as he spoke, that “…there is always something to celebrate”.

That was certainly the case with ‘Reflections in Nature’, a setting of the hymn tune ‘Fewster’ with the on-screen words of  ‘When Jesus looked o’er Galilee’. Together with suitable images, the music vividly illustrated the mood of the song.

Howard’s direction brought out the subtleties of the score, with individual lines emerging from the overall texture. The piece ended with tremendous breadth and quality of sound, with a firm foundation provided by the basses and Derek Bishop on bass trombone.

Guests

Brian Nichol, the Corps Press Officer at Hadleigh, has known Clarence for some time, and introduced the band and special guests, many of whom had travelled some distance to take part.

Principal cornet Paul Young, is the Principal Trumpet of the Ulster Orchestra, whilst Chris Moyse, is currently playing in Hong Kong but was wearing his Worthing Citadel trimmings. Bass trombone Kevin Bishop, now works in Scotland, whilst others made journeys from Corps represented by Boscombe, Chatham, Croydon, Derby Central, Enfield, Leigh on Sea, Nuneaton, Regent Hall and Romford.

Contrasting

Two contrasting items came with the swing of Len Ballantine’s upbeat ‘Go Down, Moses’, featuring excellent work on flugel by Kevin Whittingham, whilst Eric Ball’s ‘The Old Wells’, in which Howard’s interpretation allowed for a spacious reading, enabled all the detail to come across.

Songsters

Paul Hillson introduced the Hadleigh Temple Songsters, and although there were some absentees he thanked Claire Howell (piano) and Ben Still (drums) for stepping into the breach. The choices of  ‘In His Presence’ followed by Len Ballantine’s stirring ‘If you would be strong (put your armour on)’, were very appropriate.

Tribute

Clarence explained that one of the reasons for arranging the concert was that a close friend, Kevin Dowdeswell, had been suffering with cancer.

Unfortunately, Kevin died before the concert took place, but many of his family and friends were present to hear his tribute. The band performed Philip Wilby’s setting of ‘The Day thou Gavest’ in his memory, which featured effective timpani playing and the smooth sound of John Starkes on euphonium.

Ambitious choice

Ray Steadman-Allen’s ‘Victorian Snapshots: On Ratcliff Highway’ was an ambitious choice to end the first half.

It is also not an easy piece for the listener, but Howard’s introduction ensured the audience knew what to expect. His clear direction guided his players through the multi-layered composition, the music in turn fierce, tender, playful and exuberant.

Despite a few moments of uncertainty, it was an effective reading, culminating in the triumphant presentation of ‘Hold the Fort’ and ‘We’ll be Heroes’, and eliciting enthusiastic applause.

Composer at the helm

Composer Eiliv Herikstad had travelled from Norway for the occasion, and the second half commenced with him conducting his march ‘Heaven Came Down’.

This created quite a stir when first published with its syncopated bars quite problematic at the time. Under the composer’s baton, and taken at a steadier pace than is sometimes the case, it all fell into place nicely, leading up to the congregational song  ‘Happy Song’ led by Andrew Mackereth, who was sharing trombone duties with Dudley Bright, and who offered Howard the chance to take his seat in the band – an offer quickly declined!

World premiere of Shoeburyness

A conversation then took place between Eiliv and Clarence, concerning the new march that Clarence had asked him to write.

Following their humorous exchange the band gave the premiere of ‘Shoeburyness’, conducted by Eiliv, an attractive piece, with flowing quaver runs and frequent use of added 6ths and 9ths, and an unusual central section where a slow melody is accompanied by the side-drum maintaining a vigorous double time pattern.

George Marshall’s ‘Yellow Star and Red and Blue’ could be heard cutting through the texture.

Uplifting

There was a touch of humour as Brian Nichol came to take his place in the songsters, for ‘I Will Wait for You’, which was followed by the lively ‘Praise His Holy Name’ with Paul Hillson encouraging the audience to clap along.

Personal interpretation

Clarence shared some thoughts surrounding Romans 8:26-28, before leading the band in Dean Goffin’s ‘The Light of the World’, moving his head and occasionally mouthing the subdivisions of the beat, as his carer turned the pages of the score.

It was clearly a heart-felt reading, with musical flexibility, particularly in the brief duets between Dudley Bright (trombone) and Chris Moyse (cornet), and Adrian Horwood (euphonium) and Phil Randell (horn).

Once again, words and images on the screen added to the experience, and there was many a lump in the throat.
 
Uplifting finale

A collection was taken before the band played ‘Shine as the Light’, dedicated to tuba player Al Honsberger of the New York Staff Band.

It made for an uplifting end to the evening, although the two percussionists were a little hard-pressed at times trying to fit everything in.

In a band of such quality it is hard to pick out any individuals, but mention should be made of the playing of the soprano line by Chris Deacon, who was totally secure at all times.

Nostalgic coda

Major Alan Bennett announced that over £1,000 had been raised for the Trust, before Howard Evans led the band in Bearcroft’s march ‘Cobham Hall’, accompanied by some archive photographs of one of the music schools, with Clarence in the cornet section and a very young-looking Kevin Ashman on principal cornet.

It was a very appropriate choice to close what had been an occasion of praise and celebration.

Peter Bale

^back to top