Spotlight on David Black
This months spotlight features our lead tenor player, David Black. David joined the band in 2006 and his blistering tenor solos have been wowing audiences ever since. Before joining the orchestra he spent 3 years in the U.S.A studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston and travelling across America performing. Alongside playing in the LP Orchestra and his many other commitments, David runs a week long jazz summer school for keen up and coming musicians in a beautiful retreat in the Lake District. Sounds like great fun!
1. Tell me about the first time you performed in public?
The first time I performed on stage to a large audience was at the People’s Theatre in Newcastle. I was 10 years old and had got through to the grand final of a music talent competition. The competition was run by the soft drinks company ‘Barr’ and I played to an audience of 1,000 people. The prize money was £50! - that wasn’t half bad for a 10 year old!
2. What do you enjoy most about being in the LP Swing Orchestra?
Playing in the LP Swing Orchestra is such a thrill. I get to work with the finest musicians and singers in the country and play to audiences that really understand and appreciate our kind of music. We also get to work at many of the country’s most prestigious venues: The Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, The Ritz, The Savoy, Ronnie Scott’s, Abbey Road Studios, Stables in Wavendon, to name just a few. I also enjoy the feeling of being part of a big band when everyone is completely connected, totally on the same wavelength and you can feel the energy, when the ‘jeep is really jumping’.
3. What would the three albums on your desert island be?
Top 3 desert island discs. This is really tough as I am influenced by so many people and love so many great records. Here goes:
- Michael Brecker Live at the Festival Hall in London in November 1996.
This was a live concert recording done by the BBC, and I was lucky enough to be there in the audience. To be able to listen to masterful saxophone playing like this, time and time again is just spellbinding.
Watch Michael Brecker live at Newport Jazz festival
- Count Basie - Atomic Mr Basie
A complete lesson on how a big band should sound. Period.
Atomic Mr Basie
- Ken Peplowski playing Tiger Rag at the Bern Jazz Festival in 1995
This is some of the finest clarinet playing I have ever heard. I have seen Ken play many times in London, but this track takes the biscuit.
Watch this performance here
4. Can you tell me one thing about you that you think our LP family might not know?
I met my lovely wife, the singer Alice Black on a Len Phillips big band weekend. It was back in 2008 at Nidd Hall and I had to work very hard to snatch her away from the clutches of the male singer in the band back then, Anton Browne. Our first meeting was over a game of pool - which I obviously let Alice win! I gave her my number and luckily for me she called me up and the rest is history.
