Black Dyke Band

Black Dyke Band

Black Dyke Band is a brass band from West Yorkshire, England, active since 1855 and also known as Black Dyke Mills Band. It develops from the Queenshead Band, which is reorganised in the mid-19th century under the support of John Foster and Son, and it keeps a close historical link with the community of Queensbury, where many of its players live and work at the mill.

History

The band’s early roots go back to a brass and reed band founded in Queenshead in 1816 by Peter Wharton, but the modern Black Dyke name is established in 1855, when new instruments are bought and the band is renamed Black Dyke Mills Band. Its history includes long association with brass band activity in Yorkshire and a reputation for musical development and performance over many decades.

Black Dyke Band makes one of the earliest brass band recordings in 1904. In 1906 it tours Canada and the United States for five months, giving more than 200 concerts and travelling over 13,000 miles. It later tours widely in Europe and beyond, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Belgium, Sierra Leone and Spain, and it returns to Canada in 1972. It also takes part in the Australian bicentenary celebrations in 1988 and gives concerts and masterclasses in Denmark, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Recordings and collaborations

The band has made more than 50 recordings. Among them are projects with former Prime Minister Edward Heath as guest conductor, and with Paul McCartney and Wings. It also works with other artists including Tori Amos and The Beautiful South, and provides the background music for the UK television series Ground Force, with music by Jim Parker.

Its recordings include Façade, featuring Lady Walton and Richard Baker, and a release of music by Sir William Walton, including arrangements of Richard III and the Battle of Britain Suite. It also records with percussionist Evelyn Glennie. That collaboration is nominated for a Grammy Award in the crossover classical category, and the band is associated with the song “That’ll Do” from Babe 2, which is Oscar-nominated and features Peter Gabriel with Black Dyke backing.

Performances and recognition

The band appears in television shows, films, broadcasts, concerts at music festivals, universities, The Proms, Fanfare into Europe and Songs of Praise. It performs with artists including Lesley Garrett, Elton John, Evelyn Glennie, James Morrison, Rod Franks, Ian Bousfield and Phil Smith. In 1993 it becomes the first British brass band to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, and in 1994 it becomes the first brass band to perform at the Royal College of Music.

Black Dyke Band appears as guests of the LSO Brass ensemble at the Barbican, gives composer masterclasses for the Society for the Promotion of New Music, and performs before the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. It receives the Honorary Freedom of the City of Bradford in 1976 and charitable status in 1997. In 1996 it wins the Music Industries Association Award for Best CD in the Orchestral category for its recording of Sir William Walton’s music.

Players and conductors

The band has produced a number of notable brass players, including Ceres Jackson, John Paley and Harold Pinches in earlier years. Later musicians associated with it include Rowland Jones, Jack Pinches, William Lang, Maurice Murphy and Rod Franks. Conductors linked with the band include Alexander Owen, John Gladney, Arthur O. Pearce, Harry Mortimer, Alex Mortimer, Major George Wilcocks, Major Peter Parkes and James Watson.

Its armorial logo, showing a stag’s head and a Latin motto, comes from the arms granted to John Foster in 1857. The motto translates as “Act justly and fear nothing.”