606 Club Special - Clark Tracey Presents: “Under Milk Wood” – The 60th Anniversary
““...one of the most impressive jazz drummers in Britain today””
The Times
Back in 1965 iconic UK pianist Stan Tracey CBE released the seminal recording “Under Milk Wood”, an homage to Dylan Thomas’s remarkable play. The compositions were inspired and the quartet, which featured leading musicians of the time including the world class Bobby Wellins on sax, was outstanding. The album was received with international acclaim, previously unknown for a British jazz recording. Reissued a further six times over the years, it has won numerous awards for best album/best music etc upon each reissue. Soon after its original release, Stan added narrators to read extracts from the Dylan Thomas play as part of the performance and the show has been presented in this way ever since.
Tonight we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the original album with a band featuring a saxophonist who worked with Stan's various groups for many years, the legendary Art Themen. Also featured will be the terrific Gareth Williams-piano, and another stalwart of Stan’s latter day ensembles, Andrew Cleyndert-bass. The quartet is led from the drum chair by Stan's son, Clark Tracey BEM, who worked in Stan's various groups for over 35 years. For this special tribute concert the narrators will be Ben Tracey (Clark's son) and actress/singer Sharon Myfanwy White. Remarkable music performed by the very best in the UK.
"Themen, a veteran master now, in such eloquent form" Jazzwise; "Clark Tracey is a world-class musician" Jazz Journal; “By the 60s, British jazz no longer sounded like an American clone. Among the works that took the genre to new heights, Stan Tracey's Under Milk Wood still reigns supreme” Guardian
Photo by Nadjib Le Fleurier