New Year's Letter from Chuck

January 8, 2005 - Toronto

Dear Friends and Fans,

2004 was a very exciting year that started with concerts in Florida in January and finished with our annual series of December Christmas concerts. In between we dropped into Europe three different times, helped open the new Yamaha Atelier in New York City, launched our new Opening Day Entertainment Group (openingday.com) record company and had our single “Very Merry Christmas” chart at an astonishing #25 on Canadian pop radio play, collaborating with singer Zoë Bentley.

Those of us that follow sports know that change is inevitable, and I am reporting to you personnel changes in our group. Gene, Stuart and I are delighted to welcome two new members to our group: trumpeter Charles Lazarus, and hornist Bernhard Scully. These players are each in their own right unbelievably talented and accomplished performers and they both bring the special gift of their wonderful personalities to our small family. Please take a look at their profile on the website (to be posted very soon!). We know you will be equally excited to hear them on our “Magic Horn Tour” this winter and spring.

Bernhard Scully has been catching the ears of all our favourite horn players including Roland Pandolfi, Gail Williams, Kendall Betts, and most recently my old friend Doug Hill. I have personally never seen more glowing recommendations. And when Bernhard sat in to play with us we all understood their excitement about his playing – stay tuned as he tours the “Magic Horn” series of concerts with us this spring! Read Bernhard's Bio

Trumpeter Charles Lazarus, one of the most outstanding young players in North America, has agreed to join our ranks. He has wonderful qualifications for his new role having played early in his career playing with the Dallas Brass, and most recently performing as a member of the Minnesota Orchestra (the very orchestra that gave CB its start with symphonies in the mid-70’s). Charles is equally at home in the symphonic world as the big band world. His yearly concertising has always included that very same range of activities. Read Charles' Bio

The only problem with Chuck joining us is going to be two Chuck’s in the group – it has been suggested I should start using my actual first name Conrad and then include a clarification: “the artist formerly know as chuck” – what do you think?

No slow start for these two: at the end of next week we will be shooting a new video of award winning conductor/composer Bramwell Tovey’s “State Street Stomp.” This will lead right into our regular calendar of concerts, featuring an extensive far East tour in March. In amongst our concerts will be a stopover in Japan to promote our “Magic Horn” CD released on the JVC label in Japan. This is a new relationship for the group and we are expecting great results from this proven leader in the Japanese market.

Our wonderful colleagues Joe and Jeff now move into the “most valuable alumni” category for us. Each of them have very important reasons to pursue other facets of their performing experiences, and I am sure they will keep us all informed about their plans, hopes and aspirations for the future. You will surely see more of them ---- you know we love to keep valued former members in the family. Examples include Ron Romm joining us for a Luther Henderson recording project this spring and Ryan Anthony will be joining us for a concert tour in May.

We want to thank all of our family, friends and fans for the continuing support all these years. We know how hard it is to pack up the family, drive to the hall, find something to eat, find a parking space and then attend our concert. The fact that so many of you are willing to make those efforts never ceases to touch our hearts.

The only concerts that Charles could not perform this season (because of a previous commitment to perform in recital with Adolf ‘Bud’ Herseth!!) will be our Canadian tour dates in May (to be announced). So we called our valued colleague and friend Ryan Anthony to join us for this group of concerts.

On the recording front, we made significant strides in placing our label Opening Day Recordings in the forefront of Independent Labels. We have linked up with pop label OP3 to create a spectrum of releases; every day an OP3 and an Opening Day artist are receiving radio play.

Our CD “Magic Horn” has set a new benchmark for classical record sales, while “Sweet Songs of Christmas” and “Amazing Brass” continue to be steady sellers in the market as well as attracting high levels of legitimate “downloads” on over 40 download websites throughout the world.

The inclusion on the Magic Horn CD of an ‘enhanced CD’ video version of Michael Kamen’s “Quintet” has caught the attention of several critics – video has been a domain normally reserved for the pop world. In that same light the Brass will be featuring our new players in a video to be shot in about two weeks time. “State Street Stomp” from Bramwell Tovey’s remarkably successful Santa Barbara Sonata will be the subject of a classical vs. pop audience reaction video.

With every best wish for the new year,

Chuck
(for Chuck, Gene & Stuart along with our new colleagues Charles Lazarus & Bernhard Scully!)

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