All Star Brass - "Toccata & Fugue: Live in Concert 2012"

"The All-Star Brass was born in 2009 out of a concept that developed after hearing the string quartet recordings of Stern, Perlman, Zukerman and Ma. I decided that I wanted to form a collective of the greatest brass soloists in the world who all had independent careers but wanted to get together for the synergy of playing chamber music. When Fred Mills arranged Bach's Toccata and Fugue for the Canadian Brass 35 years ago at the Banff Centre, it was a seminal moment in the history of brass chamber music and ushered in a new era of expectation for brass chamber music. From the fiendish off-beat syncopation, trading of sixteenth notes, diminished chord triplets played in thirds and unison two octave arpeggios in the trumpets to the nimble dexterity required by both tuba and trombone to the soaring horn line ending - never before had an arrangement been attempted that would push brass players to these technical limits. As four members of ASB had previously performed in the Canadian Brass,