BBJ's 2012 concert was like no other!
For one thing, it was big, with at least 700 people in attendence. And the venue - the grand ballroom in Medan's Emerald Garden Hotel - was the most luxurious the band has played in so far! BBJ also played well, zipping through my brass band arrangements of "YMCA" and the theme from the Hawaii Five-O television series in a way that reflected the increased technical ability of band members since our last concert in 2008.
The following article about the Brass Band Jenderal (Medan Band) appeared in my regular "mata jeli" column in the Straits Times on December 12, 2008
Band members first asked me about the possibility of holding a concert when I visited Medan in late 2003. I thought they were a bit crazy - ignorant village kids who knew next to nothing about how a real brass band should sound! After the band almost collapsed in the late 1990s, standards had dropped dramatically. The band was woefully out of tune, we had only one tuba player, a terrible trombone section and no percussionists worthy of the name. ........
