The latest from Denton, Texas, band Brave Combo is a set of fifteen songs from the classical canon. Mozart, Satie, Puccini, Brahms, Bizet, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and more of their white-haired pals prove the resilience of their compositions arranged as waltzes, tangos, shuffles, and (Brave Combo’s calling-card) polkas.
It’s a testament to the band that none of it comes off as forced, cute, quaint, or ironic; they’ve managed the same feat over the past couple decades with popular tunes as well. This is simply a superb ensemble playing timeless melodies with warmth, flair, and sympathetic invention. The bulk of the arrangements are by the band’s founder, guitarist-keyboardist-accordionist Carl Finch, and multi-reed player Jeffrey Barnes (who also dazzles with harmonica on Brahms’ “Hungarianella”).
Ravel’s “Pavane For A Dead Princess”, given a Latin-tinged rock beat, is utterly alluring, while Bach’s “Fear (Air On A G String)” sounds like the second coming of Procol Harum. Offenbach’s “Barcarole” is given a lounge salsa makeover, while Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dance”, possessing melodic elements also common in folk dancing traditions, sounds like part of Brave Combo’s core identity.
While this music is grouped under the generic umbrella of classical, it covers a wide swath of eras, with widely divergent characteristics and styles, much of it groundbreaking in its day. It is this sort of recasting that allows the music to flourish in the modern world, like a visitor from centuries past arriving and getting on famously with the contemporary crowd.