Track List

Fanfare for the Common ManAaron Copland

Concert MarchAram Khachaturian

Rhapsody in Blue(Soloist SAC Guy Davies) George Gershwin

Gymnopedie No.3Erik Satie

Turkish Rondo(Soloists SAC Libby Green, Cpl Martin Robbins) W. A. Mozart

Ranch House PartyDon Gillis

To Lusher With LoveJohn Martindale

Feels So Good(Soloist Cpl Ruth Sidney) Chuck Mangione

LoverRichard Rodgers

Blue Rondo a la TurkDave Brubeck

Harlem Nocturne(Soloist Cpl Tony Giles) Earle Hagen

BirdlandJosef Zawinul

Sheik of ArabyTed Snyder

Duke Ellington SelectionDuke Ellington

Programme Notes

John Martindale was born in 1927 and enlisted in the RAF as a trumpet player in 1946. In 1956 he was appointed Bandmaster of No.4 Regional Band and less than a year later he was commissioned as a Director of Music. As a Director of Music he worked with Nos. 3,4 and 5 Regional Bands, the RAF School of Music and RAF Germany Band before being appointed Director of Music of the Central Band in 1974 and succeeding Wing Commander Roy Davies as Organising Director of Music (later changed to Principal Director of Music) in 1977.

He left the RAF in 1983 sadly passing away after only a few years of retirement. John Martindale was a talented and prolific arranger of music who developed a wind band sound which in the 1970s and 1980s was unique to RAF ensembles, combining elements of Big Band, orchestral and traditional military musical idioms - a sound which challenged many people's preconceptions regarding the tonal resources of the military band.

He also wrote to make best use of the strengths of individual players in his bands, especially during his tenure with the Central Band, writing solo pieces to showcase them such as the trombone quartet and flute duet featured on this recording - To Lusher with Love and Turkish Rondo, the latter piece displaying John's combination of skill and humour in the numerous quotes from Mozart's music he manages to include. The other pieces on this disc fall into three groups - transcriptions of orchestral works, Big Band and jazz style works and what might be described as curiosities.

In the first category we have the pieces by Satie, Khachaturian and Copland and also the version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue made for pianist David Wilde to perform with the Central Band in the Royal Festival Hall in 1979 (this was actually the very first of many concerts I played in under John's baton).

Big Band classics including Take the A Train, Mood Indigo and Caravan are masterfully arranged in the extended Duke Ellington selection and Richard Rodger's Lover really shows what a good band can do in John's version. More recent jazz classics appear in Dave Brubeck's Blue Rondo a la lurk and Weather Report's Birdland.

From the curiosity department we have the exuberant Ranch House Party by Don Gillis and a version of The Sheik of Araby in which John pays tribute to one of his musical heroes, Billy May.

This album represents a small part of the unique library of music John Martindale left RAF Music Services but it serves as a fitting tribute to a musician with whom it was a pleasure and a privilege to work.