Fanfare Reviews
from July/August 1997

Reviews: King

CIRCUS SPECTACULAR--SCREAMERS, GALOPS AND MORE: THE BAND MUSIC OF K. L. KING. Matthew H. Phillips and his Circus Band. VOX VOX 7541 [DDD]; 67:44. Produced by Matthew H. Phillips.

Sells-Floto Triumphal March. Voice of America. The Home Town Boy March. Wings for Peace. "Loyalty" March. Prestissimo Galop. Emblem of Freedom. Our Heritage. We Stand United. Glorious America. The Kentucky Derby. Yellowstone Trail March. On the Warpath--Indian War Dance. Broadway One-Step or Two-Step. The American Way. The Joy Riders--March and Two-Step. Bombardier March. Diplomacy March. Aviation Tournament March. Call to Victory March. Thumbs-Up U.S.A. March. Step on It! March. Fete Triumphal March. The Victor March. Mountain Trail March. The Defending Circle March. Canton Aero Club March. Auld Lang Syne March.

As far as I know, this is the only readily available collection dedicated solely to the music of Karl L. King, who composed more than 300 works in his lifetime, including almost 200 marches, and served as the inspiration for The Music Man. Most march collections include only a few works by the composer, with his most famous, Barnum & Bailey's Favorite, being the standard. Even the "Godfather of Wind Bands," Frederick Fennell, has recorded only a handful of King's marches. So this CD has little competition--a good thing because the performances by the Phillips Circus Band are hardly idiomatic. The opening Sells-Floto Triumphal March spotlights the worst of the problems--unfocused direction, lack of ensemble, and so-so sound. Fortunately, the first two resolve themselves rather quickly and aren't terribly distracting throughout, but the sound is. Any attempts at playing with expression are clouded by the murky recorded sound and the boxy acoustics of the Packard Building's Great Concert Hall in Philadelphia. To compound the problem, poor mike placement makes many of the numbers sound as if they were composed for solo tenor saxophone (thank God he's an ace player) and band. But I don't want to make it seem as if this recording has no redeeming qualities; it does. First of all, while Phillips and his band don't play with the authority of finesse of, say, a Fennell-led group, they are competent. The band, started by the Kovach family, is made up of musicians in the Philadelphia area, including students from Temple University, the Curtis Institute of Music, and New York's Juilliard School. Second, look at the total timing and generosity of selections, many of them rarely recorded gems by a prolific composer who usually gets short shrift. Finally, the price is right. My favorite retailer sells this collection for less than $7, a fair price considering the disc's shortcomings. Sure, this disc isn't everything it could be, but King devotees should still find it worthwhile. It also makes a perfect companion to a mostly King recording by Edward Petersen and the Washington Winds called Golden Age of the March (Walking Frog WFR101). That CD's forty-seven-minute program isn't as generous as the Vox CD, but its energetic performances and lovely sound make it worth every penny of its $15 price tag. To boot, of the twelve King marches (out of seventeen selections overall) on the Walking Frog collection, only one, Broadway One-Step, is duplicated by the Vox CD. Throw in Fennell's classic collection of circus marches with the Eastman Wind Ensemble--Screamers (Mercury 432 019-2), whose twenty-eight selections, including four by King, duplicate nothing on the other two discs--and one has a handy, three-disc survey of the genre.

Randy A. Salas

Home - Favorites - Composers - CD Big List- Reviews - Books - Links - Search - About Us

Fanfare Reviews from July/August 1997

Fanfare Reviews
from July/August 1997