Suite Spot
Kate Molleson is joined by Clark Tracey to explore the life and work of his father, pianist and composer Stan Tracey. Today, a turn towards large-scale suites.
This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of the Godfather of British Jazz: pianist and composer Stan Tracey – in the company of his son, the drummer Clark Tracey.
Today Kate and Clark focus on the suites that Stan Tracy wrote in the late 1970s and 1980s. It was a return to large-scale, thematic writing after a relatively fallow period in the early 1970s. Tracey responded to all kinds of prompts: for sacred spaces, festivals and big public events – even on such unlikely themes as the life of Samuel Crompton, the inventor of the spinning mule and the National Association of Local Government Officers. He approached each project with a seriousness of intent and integrity. He treated each theme as an opening into rich and surprising music territory.
Music featured:
Summer Hobo (from Sonatinas, with John Surman)
Duffy’s Circus (from Senior Moment)
Peg Leg Bates (from Stan Tracey Octet – the Early Works)
Mary Rose (from Stan Tracey Live at the QEH)
The Sixth Day (Genesis and More)
On radio
Broadcast
- Thu 19 Nov 202616:00BBC Radio 3
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