| Dave Tidball (2010) | |
|---|---|
| Somewhere on the rarity scale between native Californians and hens' teeth are Welsh jazz musicians, but multi-reed player Dave Tidball is one of the few.
Born in the capital, Cardiff, Dave acquired his love of jazz from his father, a part-time piano-player and band-leader with a great knowledge of standards. He learned enough from Dad to be able to play in the school band, although for a long while he remained oblivious to the quality of the clarinet he had drawn almost at random from the instrumental lucky bag. Dave hadn't studied music at high school, nor did he do so when he when he moved to the capital of the country next door (the inhabitants of which Welsh rugby players term "the old enemy") to study Economics and International Relations at London University. But his on-the-job training with his peers and his father had nonetheless made him good enough to join the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After graduation, he stayed in London until 1979, playing in many situations including Ronnie Scott's Club. Perhaps his most notable association was with Turning Point, the fusion-oriented band of the late bassist Jeff Clyne, with which he recorded two LPs. Dave then broke his run of capitals by making his next stop Boston, Massachusetts. After half-a-dozen years there, he followed Horace Greely's advice and came west to the Bay Area, which he's called home for some 25 years. Following his arrival, he spent a number of years as a member of the Rudy Salvini Big Band, and a similar period with vocalist Paula West. By day, Dave is a music teacher. By night and at weekends, though, Dave is one of the horns in one or other of the many bands which he's led and of which he has been a part. One, Threedom, was a trio in which Dave was the only horn, sometimes playing soprano saxophone, an instrument he'd acquired on his travels. Others include Minotaur (four horns), Triceratops (three horns, obviously), and Three Tenors, No Opera (no prizes for guessing how many horns, and of which type). His current band, provisionally named "Clarinecstasy", has four clarinets, and he's also a member, with Tony Corman and Laura Klein, of FivePlay Jazz Quintet. |
| Pick | Artist | Album | Song | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # 1 | Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane | Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall | Monk's Mood | Blue Note |
| # 2 | Illinois Jacquet | Angry Tenors (LP) | Minor Romp | CBS |
| # 3 | Miles Davis | E.S.P. | Iris | Columbia |
| # 4 | Duke Ellington and His Orchestra | The Blanton-Webster Band | Cottontail | Bluebird |
| # 5 | Sonny Rollins | Alfie | He's Younger Than You Are | Impulse |
| # 6 | John Coltrane | Live at Birdland | The Promise | Impulse |
| # 7 | Virginia Rodrigues | Mares Profundos | Canto de Iemanja | Natasha |
| Book | Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace" | |||
| Luxury Item | Fishing tackle | |||