I received an email from Douglas Yeo a couple of weeks ago about a new CD he had just come out with. I own one of his Bass Trombone CDs so I was a little bit familiar with his talents. I have several brass recordings CDs in my library and only a few are on my frequently listened to list. Mr. Yeo's Proclamation Bass Trombone CD is not on my short list. He is a fine musician, but I never really got into his previous CD.
So with that background in my head the CD arrived in the mail. It is of him playing the Serpent. From the very first track I knew that I had a winner on my hands. Not only is this interesting from an academic point of view, it is very enjoyable from a musical aspect also. There is some mighty fine music making going on here.
The CD has many tracks with the serpent serving its designed role as filling out the bass line in sacred music. The CD also contains several tracks of the the serpent in mixed ensembles and also as a soloist with piano accompanyment.
I believe among the many facets of this collection which sets it apart from his Proclamation CD is the diverse colors the serpent has. It reminds me of the sound of natural horn. The synthesiser type of consitancy Mr. Yeo demonstrates on the Proclamation CD gives way to much wider color pallete on the Le Monde Du Serpent CD I am listening to as I type. Of course along with the Serpent comes some quirky intonation on occasion, but that is easily overshadowed by the overall beauty of this recording.
Hopefully in the future I can convince those above me with more stripes on their shoulders to have Mr. Yeo come to one of our TUSAB Tuba Euph Conferences as a features soloist on Serpent.
So for all you tuba junkies out there looking for something different, yet still beautiful in its own right, pick up a copy of Le Monde Du Serpent.
sean