The age-old tradition of British community band music rolls on, and in the hands of the (and quite a few other groups), it may even be that the medium has seen a rise in popularity in recent years. That could be due to the way many bands have expanded their repertories, but few have gone as far as the does here. All the music here is contemporary and was written for the ensemble, and quite a bit of it is modern in style. may be the last composer one would expect to encounter on a band album, but his , taken from a live performance, both is adventurous and exploits the band medium beautifully. The latter is really the important thing; the composers, who are largely unknown outside of Britain, write quite creatively for band. Hear the brass shadings of 's , for example, or the shimmering effect in . is a composer-in-residence with the and is represented by a pair of short pieces; the same is true of composer , who conceived of this project. The idea was an inspired one, and this is a fine outing from a group that has advanced the band genre substantially. ~ James Manheim