International Jazz Day:The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra - The Music of Dave Brubeck @ Sage Gateshead 0n April 30

SNJO (MD Tommy Smith) featuring Bill Dobbins (piano) and John Nugent (alto saxophone)

(Press release)

The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) invites all music lovers to join them at Sage Gateshead on International Jazz Day, April 30, in a double celebration of world jazz, and the achievements of one of its most respected figures, Dave Brubeck.

Brubeck was an extraordinary musician who achieved enviable status as a jazz master, a brilliant composer, and as a household name. The SNJO is delighted to have this opportunity to mark Brubeck’s exceptional contribution to modern music and to warmly welcome pianist and arranger Bill Dobbins and alto saxophonist John Nugent as their special guests. 

This particular programme naturally focuses upon the hugely successful work of Brubeck’s famous quartet, and their enthusiastic exploration of unusual time signatures. It had been a conscious decision by Brubeck to delve into polyrhythmic experimentation and improvisational counterpoint. He was suitably rewarded with a million-selling jazz album in Time Out, and a lasting place in jazz history. Few, including Brubeck himself, envisaged making ambitious jazz that had such broad and enduring appeal.

Brubeck brought warmth, intellect, energy and charm to the art of jazz piano; while saxophonist Paul Desmond consistently provided concise, clear and lyrical musicianship. Together with drummer Joe Morello, and bassists Eugene Wright and Joe Benjamin, they created some of the most iconic modern jazz ever made.

The music selected for this concert will bracket the emphatic statement made on Time Out in 1959 with works from the years immediately preceding its release, and the further re-invention that followed on subsequent recordings. During this period, Brubeck was in his prime as a jazz ambassador and a composer of increasing stature. The music that has been selected for these performances is, therefore, a ringing endorsement of his vision, ingenuity, and prowess. 

The SNJO is now a force to be reckoned with as an interpretive instrument with a flair for astonishing customizations. Bill Dobbins has been specially commissioned by the SNJO to arrange all the tunes for these concerts including an exotic vista re-imagined on Rising Sun from Impressions of Japan, and a frantic vision of the Fast Life first described on Countdown:Time In Outer Space. Tommy Smith also provides his own Brubeck-inspired orchestration for saxophones of Paul Desmond's historic chorus on In Your Own Sweet Way as part of a brand new arrangement of a much-loved jazz standard.

Sage, Gateshead   0191 443 4661

(There will be pre-concert talk at 6.45 pm)