Forthcoming Gigs
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Project News
“Main preoccupation is a proposed national tour with a Jazz Orchestra performing my compositions. At the time of writing we have eight gigs fixed , the other part of ‘we’ being drummer Pete Fairclough who’s just about fixing everything! It all depends on Arts Council support and we hope to have positive news shortly. The orchestra will be an ‘all-star’ affair including Stan Sultzman, Iain Dixon, Andy Schofield, Alan Barnes, Tony Harper - saxes/woodwind; Henry Lowther, Richard Iles, Robbie Robson + two more - trumpets, Pete Beechill, Mike Carton, Sarah Williamson + one more - trombones, Mike Walker - guitar, Nikki Iles - piano, Dave Markee - bass, and Pete Fairclough - drums. The music will consist of some earlier pieces, including my four part ‘Unintentional Suite’ (1982), and a new, yet to be written suite provisionally titled ‘Thad Jones and the Ellington Effect’. Watch this space!
The Duke Ellington Repertory Orchestra which was started at the Leeds College of Music in 1989 is an on-going project. An ‘offshoot’ of DERO is another band, operating independently of the college, the ‘Ellington Experience Orchestra’. The band has a library in excess of 250 pieces, and usually an active repertoire of around 40 pieces at any given time. Both bands feature music from all eras of Ellingtonia, but with a focus on music from the early/mid 1940s and mid/late 1950s periods.”
The “main preoccupation” mentioned above has come to fruition, in part, with the imminent ‘release’ of my very first CD. The music I wrote for the aborted October 2004 tour, a seven part suite - Thad Jones and the Ellington Effect - was recorded in June (2006) by a band to die for. The slightly revised personnel of the band is: Andy Schofield (ss/as/clt), Tim France (as/flt), Russell van den Berg (ss/ts), Suzanne Higgins (ts/clt), Tony Harper (bs/bs.clt); Bryan Davis, Ryan Quigley, Rob Robson, Henry Lowther, Graham Hardy or Richard Iles (trumpets); Mike Carton, Rick taylor, John Kenny or Andy Hillier (trombones); Sarah Williams (bass trombone); Mike Walker (guitar), Graham Hearn (piano), Dave markee (bass) and Peter Fairclough (drums). There’ll be more info about the CD with sound clips and purchasing details elsewhere on the site shortly. Incidentally, during the recording sessions we recorded enough material for two CDs and I hope to let the second one loose around May/June 2007.
Re: The Ellington Experience Orchestra, this band no longer exists. Other pre-occupations and various family matters had to take priority so the idea more or less faded out of existence! Which is not to say that it might happen again sometime in the future.