The Midnight Parade was first performed by the Living Story Music Ensemble on the 6^thMay 2019, as part of the Ribble Valley Jazz Festival.  The performance consists of nine songs for an eight-piece jazz ensemble, which includes a singer and three trombones.  The piece was written by Chris Bridges, with inspiration from the novel “The Master and Margerita” by Bulgakov.  The story describes the Devil and various demons arriving in Moscow, and the songs have a particular focus on the chapters describing the devil’s May ball.

During three of the songs the sound of the band was enhanced by an amazing trombone choir.  This group had come together during the two workshops which preceded the show.  The first of these workshops was for anyone who had never played the trombone before during which participants were taught to play their first notes on a plastic pBone trombone (one of the participants was an 80-year-old playing music for the first time).  They were then joined by players of varying experience for the second workshop, during which participants learned the parts for the songs as well as exploring ideas for improvisation.

Enjoy two of the songs, which both include the mighty trombone choir;