The Polizeiorchester Hamburg

The Polizeiorchester Hamburg: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong

by Jack Bowers
February 1, 2002

One of the highest compliments I can pay the Poleiziorchester Hamburg is to say the ensemble reminds me of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass. The charts are dissimilar, as one would expect on a tribute to Louis Armstrong, but there's the same aura of understated elegance and casual self­assurance that one hears from the Brass, as director Kristine Kresge uses horns, clarinets, piccolo, flute, oboe and even a banjo to augment the usual trumpets, trombones, reeds and rhythm and add splashes ...