STAN TRACEY'S
Under Milk Wood

EWEN BAIRD tenor sax
MARTIN PICKETT piano 
STEVE KERSHAW double bass ​
MIKE GOFF drums
TOM NEILL & SIÂN GOFF narration

7:30 p.m. Friday 4 August 2023
in the Recital Room​

Pianist and composer Stan Tracey, ‘the godfather of British jazz’, is best known for his 1965 album Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.  Thomas’ famous BBC radio drama dramatises the lives, dreams, and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of a small fictional Welsh fishing village, Llareggub. It is the inspiration for Tracey’s evocative themes, including the justly famous tone-poem Starless and Bible Black.

Under Milk Wood is is one of the landmarks of British jazz, and endures because it recognises the warmth of friendship, family and community that bind us together.

Using original scores transcribed by his drummer son Clark Tracey,  the 1965 album is lovingly recreated by the Ewen Baird Quartet.  Extracts of Dylan Thomas' poetic text are brought to life by actor Tom Neill, putting Stan Tracey's music into its proper context.

 "Does anyone here know how good he (Stan Tracey) really is?" - Sonny Rollins at Ronnie Scott's

https://ewenewenbaird.net/
​https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/martin-pickett/
http://stevekershaw.com/

The late STAN TRACEY

Actor TOM NEILL

Ewen Baird

Steve Kershaw