Serious? is the name of the new, the 8th CD of the group Viera Blech. Important is: the question mark to the title. Those who know the band know that Viera Blech has its own style and sound, a diversified mix of own compositions and arrangements, which are exactly tailored to the band. Viera Blech has provided a breath of fresh air in the brass music scene since its foundation and confirms again how versatile and demanding brass music can be.
The CD starts with Latin-Jazzpop and rocks off with “Conga”. So that traditionalists don’t turn off immediately, there follows a march (Frankenhardt) and the polka “Ehrenwert”, both by Marin Scharnagl. With “One Million Sunflowers” one does not know at first because of loud triplets, which rhythm this results in, until it develops to a dynamic rock song. If you can’t count, you are quickly “out of the picture”.
“Anyway” raps along and as a change there’s the lively polka “Visit to grandfather”. A “crossover” refers to an overlapping of different musical styles. The song “A Bavarian Crossover” starts accordingly comfortable, before it mutates to a jazzy raggea. “Ramono” is as polka-fast and is replaced by the song “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”. The rock ballad was made famous by the band “Aeorsmith” and is here available in an excellent arrangement for wind ensemble.
The title “Five times as fast” does not augur well and demands a quick tongue twisting from all musicians. The following song “Englishman in New York” is directly reassuring and well known from singer Sting. Who loves Leonard Cohen will be rewarded with the song “A Thousand Kisses Deep”. Flugelhorn and tuba have a longer sequence before the other instruments discreetly replace the female choir heard in the original. The song allows much room for improvisation. Very nice.
“Vaterfreuden” clearly shows the handwriting of the composer Martin Scharnagl. The final track of the CD “Brass on the Dancefloor” makes the band rock again.