Cadogan Hall (above) does big bands well. There were very few seats left in the hall tonight. The audience was appreciative. The sound and the lighting were done very well and unobtrusively. Pete Cater offered heartfelt and well-deserved thanks at the end of tonight’s gig for the hard work done by Adam McGillvray and his team at the hall.
Cater had a assembled a great, hand-picked band with two Buddy Rich alumni in his saxophone section- Jay Craig, featured on “OK with Jay” and Bob Martin featured on “Chelsea Bridge”. Other highlights were Andy Greenwood’s blistering high trumpet work in “Chicago.” There were some storming full-on charts such a “Machine” the second half opener, and Bob Mintzer’s Funk City Ola.
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The 8pm start meant that it was 10.30 before the inevitable long drum solo came along, with all the horn sections ritually turning their heads to watch Cater work through his lengthy routine on “West Side Story.” By that late hour the audience had run out of some of the energy to clap and cheer which had greeted the band earlier.
Cater master-minded and powered the band, impressively without a single reference to music or script. His announcements were slightly sporadic and impressionistic. But that didn’t detract from the pleasure of hearing a great band, which re-created the power and drive of the best Buddy Rich units of the past with infectious bravado and professional energy.
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David Sinclair of The Times also reviewd the gig ( 3 stars) http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article5925556.ece
The band will be appearing at the following venues in early 2010, with further dates t.b.a.
Feb 5th: Dartford Orchard Theatre
March 12th: Leamington Spa Centre
March 13th: Southend Palace Theatre
March 14th: Croydon Ashcroft Theatre
June 5th: Worthing Pavillion Theatre
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There are just 5 more opportunities to catch Pete Cater's show, 'A Special Tribute to Buddy Rich' in 2010.
Sunday July 18th, Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, 01793 524481
Sunday July 25th, Derngate Theatre, Northampton, 01604 624811
Thursday September 30th, The Lighthouse, Poole, 0844 4068666
Thursday October 7th, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, 01242 572573
Monday November 15th, Cadogan Hall, London, 0207 730 4500
Cadogan Hall
The Cadogan Hall show is always extremely popular and tickets sales are already brisk. We advise booking early and recommend online booking at http://www.cadoganhall.com
This show will feature a unique selection of arrangements from Buddy Rich's repertoire including a number of items not featured on the other Uk tour dates.
If you haven't been to Cadogan Hall before we highly recommend it. It's a beautiful performance space, is well served by public transport links, has plenty of on street parking after 6:30pm and is located in a civilised and safe neighbourhood.