Stephen Foster wrote very little purely instrumental music, but his songs fostered (pun unavoidable) innumerable instrumental arrangements. Those heard here are taken (and sometimes re-arranged) from the playbooks of such 19th-century bands as the Manchester, New Hampshire town band, the Boston Brass Band and the brass band of the 26th Regiment of North Carolina, not to forget the U.S. Marine Band. The tunes are arranged into quicksteps, waltzes, marches, schottisches and potpourris. Most of the familiar tunes are here: 'Beautiful Dreamer,' 'I Dream of Jeannie,' 'My Old Kentucky Home,' 'Camptown Races,' 'Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming,' and 'Some Folks Do' as well as plenty of relatively unfamiliar songs. And because these arrangements come from all over some of the tunes appear several times like old friends. Some of my own favorites are 'Some Folks' arranged by W. L. Baccus, 'Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming' arranged by Bruce Barrie, 'Camptown Quick Step' arranged by Jay Krush, and 'Gentle Annie' from the U.S. Marine Corps Band archives.
As an unabashed fan of the music of Charles Ives, I can't hear these arrangements without wondering which of these tunes Charlie heard (and played) when his own father, a former Civil War bandmaster, led his town band in Danbury, Connecticut.
Recommended for brass band lovers, Stephen Foster fans, and folks who like, say, the sound track to Ken Burns's 'Civil War' PBS documentary.
TT=68:49
Scott Morrison
