The King’s Brass is shown during a past concert.
Trumpeter Tim Zimmerman will readily say that one note is maybe more important than any other at his group’s concerts worldwide.
“Bring the kids,” he said, recently speaking by phone from Chicago, where he was vacationing with siblings. “We can always play louder than they can scream.”
As wiseacre as his ways are, he is quite serious. He knows without ever tooting his own horn that his eight gifted ensemble mates — six brass, one keyboard player and one percussionist — can grab the attention of even the rowdiest youngster.
He saw it recently when his normally antsy nieces and nephews attended a concert of the King’s Brass, his band that plays everything from the sacred to the secular.
“My cousin said later that nobody moved a muscle,” said Zimmerman, the 67-year-old showman who has been with the group for all of its 45-year history.
Heck, one of their own members, tuba player Jacob Fulkerson, saw the group when he was just an 11-year-old kid in Toledo, Ohio — and determined to one day be a part of it all.
Plus, Zimmerman himself fell in love with this whole brassy idea when he first saw the Salvation Army Stockholm Band in Sweden when he was 8 years old.
“I remember peering over the edge of the balcony and thinking, ‘Wow — that’s a really cool sound,’” he said.
His group is amid a 10-week summer tour that stops in Columbus at 7 p.m. Aug. 1 for a free, 90-minute performance at Asbury United Methodist Church, 1751 27th St. Columbus resident Chuck VanNatta, who invited the group to his former Music At Asbury series more than once before crowds of 400-plus, has organized the show.
“It’s kind of exciting to be doing this once again,” VanNatta said. “They may have been the best Music At Asbury concert we ever had.”
And know this: King’s Brass members believe in harmony far beyond the concert hall. One look at the Facebook page for the troupe will tell you that.
In several tour shots, they are sharing meals. In another, they are sharing midway rides at a New Jersey theme park. In still another, they are sharing a small-group study/discussion on a Tim Keller Christian book.
“Some of the guys in this group have become best friends for life,” he said.
So, their literal unity is as noteworthy, if you will, as their music. And their tunes sometimes trigger more than one encore.
“People can see what happens if they just keep clapping,” Zimmerman said.
This summer, perhaps the biggest piece on their program is Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to Candide.”
“It’s almost enough to kill you, but it’s a great piece,” Zimmerman said.
Yet, the group is determined to present more than great compositions. They believe in colorful choreography as well.
“Coming to our concerts is like going to a Blue Angels (military jet) show,” he said. “You never know where anybody’s going to come from. It could be from the left or the right or maybe even behind you.
“We want to make it interesting, not only musically, but visually.”
He has said in past interviews that group members rarely take a seat, such is their stand-up style. That connects partly to their faith, he has said.
“The whole thing about Christianity,” Zimmerman said, “is that it’s the greatest adventure. It’s never boring. And never will be boring.
“And so why should we ever bore people now?”
The band’s new 45th anniversary CD is exciting enough that it is regularly selling out at the merchandise table.
How long will Zimmerman continue to lead the group that sometimes has averaged 140 shows per year?
“Ha!” he said with a big laugh. “That’s the million-dollar question.”
About the concert
Who: The nine-member globetrotting King’s Brass.
When: 7 p.m. Aug. 1.
Where: Asbury United Methodist Church, 1751 27th St. in Columbus.
Admission: Free, but donations will be accepted for the group.
