Quartet brings on the smiles> Trombonus Magnus leaves crowd happy

You probably haven’t given it much thought, but the trombone is an outrageously pleasurable instrument. It’s not just the curvy twists and turns of its brass body. It’s also those sonorous glissandos and the rousing bum-bum-bum marching rhythms that easily evoke festive holidays, whiskey bars and the tapping hearts of 76 jazz musicians.

Moreover, the trombone can make you smile. During a friendly concert Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bangor, the trombone quartet Trombonus Magnus played a program that was irresistibly smileworthy. The four musicians — Mark Manduca, Scott Reeves, Dan Stofan and Sam Woodhead, all of whom dressed in khaki pants and striped shirts from their personal wardrobes — played Mozart’s “Turkish March” that was hilariously bouncing. Sections of it were so gobblingly good, it seemed the song should be called “Turkey March” and that we should all be toasting the performance with steins of beer.

Of course, there were also pieces that rang from on high — Bach’s Fugue in G Minor, Thomas Tallis’ Agnus Dei, an excerpt from Haydn’s “The Creation.” It all went toward proving that a trombone can be pretty poignant when it wants to be.

So, OK, it sounded like a whole lot of Christmas cheer for September, but who couldn’t use a little merriment right about now? The stores, after all, are already putting up the tree-trimming supplies.

It was amazing, really, how capable and entertaining a trombone can be when it takes center stage. Since the trombone usually sits in the back row of the orchestra, its character can be elusive. But a concert like this one helps bring out the trombone’s personality. And the trombonist’s personality, too. Up close, you notice that trombonists pucker a lot, and they also stretch open their lips as if to fit a tennis ball between their teeth. But it’s all for a good cause.

And for a good time. These jovial chaps were about as pleasant as musicans get, talking casually with the audience, answering questions, even presenting Eric Culver’s “Dances From a Hillside Manor” as a dynamite recital-piece possibility for any high school trombonists in the audience.

Every so often, Mark Manduca would announce: “I feel a song coming on,” and the group would gear up for some darling, unexpected treat such as “Sweet, Sweet Roses of Morn.” Ah, the delicate accents of a trombone.

But there was ragtime, too. And barbershop, and avant-garde and a lyrical (yes, the trombone can be lyrical) version of Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Midnight,” with a darn decent solo by Dan Stofan.

Trombonus Magnus is dedicated to the performance of fine trombone literature. Its members are professional musicians and teachers, all of whom began on the piano but moved over to brass when they were still youngsters. And they’re glad they did. So was the audience.