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James T Madeja
GARY A GALO(EDITOR)
Crystal Records CD 451 (1 CD).
Arthur Pryor was one of the most dominant wind band personalities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in 1870 in St. Joseph, Missouri, Pryor learned to play trombone at an early age, and by fifteen was playing the instrument in his father's band. In 1889 he joined the Liberati Band, but left the following year to conduct the Stanley Opera Company in Denver. From 1892 until 1903, Pryor held the position of solo trombonist in the Sousa Band, serving as assistant conductor from 1895 to 1903. Pryor left the Sousa Band in 1903 to form his own professional band, which made six nationwide tours during its first seven years. By the time Pryor retired in 1933, his band had made over one thousand recordings. Pryor died in 1942 in West Long Branch, New Jersey. During his lifetime, Arthur Pryor claimed to have performed some ten thousand solos; he composed over three hundred works, including three operettas, works for wind band, and trombone solos.
In 1983, Crystal Records released an LP entitled Trombone Solos Performed by Arthur Pryor (LP S451). The program contained thirteen trombone solos and two cornet/trombone duets. Crystal has recently released Arthur Pryor: Trombone Soloist of the Sousa Band on CD. The program includes the thirteen solos from the 1983 LP, plus additional solo works. The CD contains over seventy-four minutes of music on twenty-six tracks representing a cross-section of Pryor's solo repertoire recorded between 1901 and 1911. The technical works are interspersed with slow, lyrical ballads and opera arias, and are presented in near
1. Arr. Pryor: Blue Bells of Scotland (w/Sousa's Band, 1901); Parisian Melodies (1901); Pryor: Intermezzo - Forever (w/Sousa's Band, 1901); Little Nell (w/Sousa's Band, 1902); The Patriot - Polka (w/August Band, 1903); Love's Enchantment (w/Sousa's Band, 1903); Love Thoughts Waltz (w/Sousa's Band, 1903); Polka Fantastic (w/Pryor's Band, 1911); Clifton: We Won't Go Home Until Morning (1901); Udall: Stay in Your Own Back Yard (w/Sousa's Band, 1902); Luders: Prince...