Dance and Music Reviews : Canadian Brass at Pasadena Civic Auditorium

The Canadian Brass, which put the neglected brass quintet on the hit-parade circuit, straddled the pops and classical worlds less successfully than usual Thursday in Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

In classical selections, Frederic Mills and Ronald Romm, trumpets; David Ohanian, horn; Eugene Watts, trombone, and Charles Daellenbach, tuba, were dutiful, uninspired and technically not all that secure.

Placid, undistinguished rhythms, hesitant attacks and lack of style characterized their playing of Byrd and Gabrieli. Contrapuntal lines sagged, pulses died, gaps appeared in the texture of excerpts from Bach’s “Art of Fugue.”

But no one goes to the Canadians for serious stuff anyway. They have won a large audience for their congenial, wry commentaries, their comic skits, their deflation of pretension. Still, not all the comic ideas worked out well.

Transcribing Figaro’s famous “Largo al factotum” (from Rossini’s “Barbiere di Siviglia”) for tuba, for instance, may have seemed a nice joke. But Daellenbach’s mellow playing didn’t stand out sufficiently, and one had to supply much of the tune from memory.

On the other hand, Daellenbach’s “Who’s on First?”-like routine describing voice entrances in the Bach fugues was clever and far outclassed the silly “Tribute to Ballet” skit, which admittedly charmed the house.

But the players really came alive in the Dixieland selections, doffing their tuxedo jackets, jamming in inspired, infectious ensemble give-and-take and also offering strong, secure, clean and stylish solos. Maybe it’s time the group jettisoned the classical stuff altogether.