4Barsrest Interview Episode 3

For the latest 4BR Podcast Interview where we talk to leading musicians and personalities with a link to the brass band world, 4BR Editor Iwan Fox is joined by Mike Lovatt, trumpet player extraordinaire. He is the driving force behind his ‘Brass Pack’ - a unique 25-piece brass orchestra (with a few additions) that has been wowing audiences with its performances. Mike has just released ‘Brass Pack – Live!’, recorded at Birmingham Town Hall in August last year with music inspired by his love of the legendary trumpet player/arranger Billy May and his iconic 1958 ‘Big Phat Brass’ album. It's an ensemble that brings together some pretty remarkable talents – from arranger Colin Skinner and a host of superb professional musicians, to the vocalists Louise Clare Marshall and Matt Ford. Mike talks to us about Billy May, the music and the man, to find out more about a release that pays homage to a remarkable musician and his association with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald as well as Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter Jimmy Van Heusen and more – including why he has a 1927 Steinway grand piano in his front room… Please subscribe and like this episode if you enjoyed it.