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A Yuletide Enigma is brass with class. Not your ordinary brass band, West Coast Enigma is an award-winning quintet (2 trumpets and a horn, trombone, and tuba) presenting 16 impressive instrumental holiday numbers. The mood ranges from cheerful to subdued, but is always smoothly professional and never boring. As trumpet player Dustin McKinney stated in recent correspondence, "It was our vision to choose music that would help create a classy yet comfortable Christmas party ambience&" West Coast Enigma certainly accomplishes that goal here.

The first cut, Yuletide Enigma, opens the CD with a bang. This medley cleverly mixes quite a few holiday standards with great panache. Track #12, Carol Fantasy, similarly melds familiar Christmas fare in creative ways. In fact, all of the arrangements here are sophisticated and challenging, and the quintet handles even the most difficult sections with aplomb. The four brass instruments receive relatively equal play here, and it is fun to hear the tuba handling the melody line in places.

Other favorites here include Coventry Carol and Carol of the Bells; their treatment is both stately and emotional. If you like Victor Herbert's March of the Toys from the musical comedy Babes in Toyland, then you will especially enjoy the West Coast Enigma's brassy embrace of that tune here.

The production values here are superb overall. My only quibble is the rare sound of a quick breath taken between notes (I assume that this was a microphone placement problem). In any event, these breaths are barely noticeable.

I confess. Having played the trumpet for many years, I have a special place in my musical consciousness for brass groups. Putting aside this personal bias, I am confident that A Yuletide Enigma embodies a broad appeal for those seeking holiday instrumentals that exude both professionalism and good fun.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2003)

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From the liner notes:

Musicians appearing on A Yuletide Enigma are Musicians on Yuletide Enigma: Richard Candelaria, trumpet; Dustin McKinney, trumpet; Steven Mahpar, horn; Gerald Wheeler, trombone; Robert Krizo, tuba.

From the liner notes:

"Since its inception in 1997, the West Coast Enigma has performed in concert venues throughout the United States. The West Coast Enigma holds prizes from prestigious festivals such as the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions in California and the National Brass Quintet Competition in Athens, Georgia. The Enigma members have shown their excellence and dedication to performing music of the highest caliber. As a result of this pursuit, the ensemble has been able to perform as guest artists at some of Southern California's most distinguished festivals and concerts. The Enigma performed as guest artists for the Guarnari String Quartet, the Long Beach Bach Festival, as well as performing a concert with the Manhattan Brass Quintet. In the summer of 2000, the quintet played through to the semi-finals at the International Brass Quintet Competition in Narbonne, France."

West Coast Enigma

A Yuletide Enigma

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Track List