Dave MacRae

Last updated

Dave MacRae
Birth nameDavid Scott MacRae
Born (1940-04-02) 2 April 1940 (age 83)
Auckland, New Zealand
GenresJazz, jazz-rock
Years active1960s–present
Website joyyates-davemacrae.com

David Scott MacRae (born 2 April 1940, Auckland, New Zealand) [1] is a New Zealand keyboardist, noted for his contributions in jazz and jazz rock, and his collaborations with musicians from the Canterbury scene.

Contents

Life and career

MacRae studied at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music and then worked in Australia in the 1960s as an arranger for Festival Records. He moved to the United States in 1969, playing with experimental groups in Los Angeles before joining Buddy Rich's ensemble in 1970. He relocated to London in 1971, working that year with jazz musicians Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Jon Hendricks and Gil Evans.

From 1972 to 1980 he was the musical director for The Goodies, arranging and producing the music for seasons 3 to 8 of the television series of the same name, and arranging and performing on their five studio albums. [1] MacRae's wife Joy Yates was a backing vocalist on several of the songs, with both appearing on camera in The Goodies – Almost Live . He worked closely with Bill Oddie on the music and together they wrote their most successful song, "The Funky Gibbon", which peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1975. [2]

In 1971, he was briefly with a group called Caparius before he joined Matching Mole, where he remained until 1972. [1] In March 1973, he recorded for the Labyrinth album with Ian Carr's group Nucleus. [1] Concurrently he played in Elton Dean's band, Just Us. He played in WMWM and Giles Farnaby's Dream Band in 1973 and did session work for Back Door in 1974, but left Nucleus around this time to concentrate on his own project called Pacific Eardrum, which he led with his wife Joy Yates until 1979. [1] He continued working with Canterbury musicians such as Robert Wyatt, Mike Gibbs, and Richard Sinclair through the 1970s.

In the 1980s, MacRae worked briefly with False Alarm, a band led by Allan Holdsworth, which eventually became I.O.U. with the addition of vocalist Paul Williams; [3] and then played in a reconstituted version of Soft Machine in 1984. [1] During the 15 years he spent in the U.K., MacRae also worked with Ronnie Scott, Clifford Jordan, Annie Ross, Cliff Richard, and Scott Walker, and as musical director to The Goodies television show [4] from series six/1976.

He returned to Australia later in 1984, and played in the Sydney area with Bernie McGann and Ronnie Scott.

He is the father of singer Jade MacRae. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian jazz</span> Music genre or scene

Jazz music has a long history in Australia. Over the years jazz has held a high-profile at local clubs, festivals and other music venues and a vast number of recordings have been produced by Australian jazz musicians, many of whom have gone on to gain a high profile in the international jazz arena.

James Deuchar was a Scottish jazz trumpeter and big band arranger, born in Dundee, Scotland. He found fame as a performer and arranger in the 1950s and 1960s. Deuchar was taught trumpet by John Lynch, who learned bugle playing as a boy soldier in the First World War, and who later was Director of Brass Music for Dundee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jade MacRae</span> Musical artist

Jade Aurora MacRae is an Australian soul singer and the daughter of professional musicians Joy Yates and Dave MacRae. MacRae is best known for her top 40 singles MacRae "So Hot Right Now" and "Superstar", both released in 2005. In 2012, following her marriage to Australian hip hop artist Phrase, MacRae continued her musical career under the new moniker of Dune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Scott</span> British jazz saxophonist (1927–1996)

Ronnie Scott OBE was a British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district, one of the world's most popular jazz clubs, in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Heath (bandleader)</span> Musical artist

George Edward Heath was a British musician and big band leader.

Nucleus was a British jazz-fusion band, which continued in different forms from 1969 to 1989. In 1970, the band won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released the album Elastic Rock, and performed both at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Village Gate jazz club.

Allan Anthony Ganley was an English jazz drummer and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen McRae</span> American jazz singer (1920–1994)

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.

Back Door were a British jazz-rock trio, formed in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Babbington</span> English rock and jazz bassist

Roy Babbington is an English rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Soft Machine.

Anthony George Coe was an English jazz musician who played clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norma Winstone</span> English jazz singer and lyricist (born 1941)

Norma Ann Winstone MBE is an English jazz singer and lyricist. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is best known for her wordless improvisations. Musicians with whom she has worked include Michael Garrick, John Surman, Michael Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, as well as pianist John Taylor, who was her former husband.

Phil Howard is an Australian jazz drummer best known for his brief stint with the jazz-rock group Soft Machine. Howard arrived in London from his native Australia in 1969, joining the band Caparius led by saxophonist Clive Stevens, alongside guitarist Peter Martin and bassist Neville Whitehead. The band's final line-up, in 1971, replaced Martin with future Isotope guitarist/leader Gary Boyle and pianist Dave MacRae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Clare</span> British jazz drummer

Kenneth Cloudsley Clare was a British jazz drummer.

Derek Humble was an English jazz alto saxophonist.

Clayton Doley is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, television musical director, arranger, and record producer best known for his Hammond Organ virtuosity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Holder (musician)</span> British musician

Frank Holder was a Guyanese jazz singer and percussionist. He was a member of bands led by Jiver Hutchinson, Johnny Dankworth and Joe Harriott.

<i>The New Goodies LP</i> 1975 studio album by The Goodies

The New Goodies LP was the second LP record released by The Goodies. All songs were written by Bill Oddie except "Wild Thing" which was written by Chip Taylor with adaptation by Bill Oddie. "Baby Samba", "Rock With A Policeman" and "Nappy Love" had previously been written by Oddie for use in I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again. It was recorded in June and July 1975 at Olympic Studios and produced by Miki Antony. As with their first album, the music was performed mainly by session musicians. Arrangements were by Dave MacRae, with the exception of "Please Let Us Play", "Cricklewood", "Good Ole Country Music", "Baby Samba" and "Nappy Love" which were arranged by Tom Parker.

<i>Nothing to Do with Us</i> 1976 studio album by The Goodies

Nothing to Do with Us was the third LP record released by The Goodies. All songs were written by Bill Oddie. As with their previous albums, the music was performed mainly by session musicians. For this album, The Goodies were signed to Island Records which had worldwide distribution rights except for the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Larkin, Colin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1583. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  2. ↑ Perry, Chris (2016). The Kaleidoscope British Christmas Television Guide 1937-2013. Kaleidoscope Publishing. p. 258. ISBN   9781900203609.
  3. ↑ "Dave MacRae". www.calyx-canterbury.fr.
  4. ↑ "Joy yates / DAVE MACRAe". Joyyates-davemacrae.com.
  5. ↑ Shand, John (17 November 2013). "Review Bloodlines: Jade MacRae reveals her talent for jazz". The Sydney Morning Herald .

Other sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.