The Rodger Fox Big Band and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra swung into spring with a much-appreciated gusto.
Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, "rocked up" a la Emerson Lake and Palmer, set the party mood. With conducting duties shared by Fox and Hamish McKeich, it was raucous fun, and Bryn van Vliet's searing saxophone contributed the first of many fine solos to come from band members.
Matt Harris' newly commissioned The Red Zone didn't quite catch the gravity of Christchurch's devastation in its expansive 15 minutes, with a lyrical middle section that might have been cooler and bleaker.
Nick Granville's Matakana was less ambitious and worked better, tracing childhood memories of North Auckland from a substantial orchestral introduction to celebratory sign-off.
American trumpeter Allen Vizzutti well deserved star billing, combining showbiz, style and sass. His beautifully caressed flugelhorn melody in Piazzolla's Oblivion blended well with one of the evening's more audible orchestral contributions; later, his trumpet pyrotechnics dazzled in his own Fire Dance.
