Themed Events
Sweet Thunder is a 13 piece big band based on the Gold Coast. The band has an extensive collection of arrangements adapted specifically for their line-up, drawing on the works of the masters of the genre: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Quincy Jones and many others. Apart from playing varied programs of music covering a range of styles from the 1920s to the present day, the band can provide specially themed programs and/or shows. With these events, Sweet Thunder attempts to create a story based on the great music created during the Jazz age and they pay homage to the masters responsible for its inception.
Return to the Cotton Club
In this package we concentrate on the great dance tunes of the 1920s and 1930s. It is perfect for a Great Gatsby or Prohibition Era theme night and it’s great for the dancers! This package can be expanded to include dancers who will demonstrate the iconic dances of the day such as the Charleston, the Jitterbug and the Lindy Hop.
Battle Royal - The Duke Meets The Count
In 1962, after many years leading two of the greatest of the big bands, Duke Ellington and Count Basie finally brought their bands together and recorded an album: ‘Battle Royal’.
In the spirit of that landmark recording, Sweet Thunder have compiled an exciting program built around the timeless classic big band repertoire of the Basie and Ellington bands. Those great bands were built on the work of the finest arrangers and featured an array of outstanding soloists that perfectly complemented the tight, hard-swinging ensemble playing that was their trademark.
Sweet Thunder, with ten accomplished soloists and a substantial list of arrangements, all carefully crafted for the specific personnel of the band, presents a varied and exciting program of the music of two of the giants of jazz. The show includes ‘Basie Talks’, ‘East St Louis Toodle-oo’, ‘Corner Pocket’, ‘Cotton Club Stomp’, ‘Shorty George’, ‘Cottontail’, ‘Ya Gotta Try’ and many more, spanning nearly 50 years of big band jazz.
A Duke Named Ellington
Generally acknowledged as the most influential figure in jazz in the 20th century, Duke Ellington’s career spanned over 50 years, In those years he produced around 3,000 individual pieces. Sweet Thunder’s tribute to the Duke starts with classics from his jungle music period in the 1920s and moves through the decades to pieces composed not long before his death in 1974. This program is best suited to concert or festival settings.
Jazz Royalty
This program features the music of the jazz ‘nobility’: Duke Ellington, King Oliver, Count Basie, Earl Hines, Duke Pearson and the ‘King of Swing’, Benny Goodman.
Whatever the situation, Sweet Thunder can draw on its extensive repertoire to compile a program to suit all occasions. In addition, the members are all seasoned reading musicians who can provide professional backing for performers in any type of cabaret/floorshow situation as well provide appropriate background and dinner music to enhance all parts of any function.
Unsung Heroes - The Great Arrangers
In the 1920s, as jazz evolved from its roots in New Orleans, bands began to increase in size from the typical five and six piece outfits. With that came the need for the music to be written down and so the role of the arranger/orchestrator developed. Jazz was mostly played for dancers until the emergence of be-bop in the late 1940s and bigger dance bands such as those of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie hired full-time arrangers who were an indispensable part of each band. Often their names are not as well-known as the those of the bandleaders and the star musicians such as Harry James and Lester Young, but the likes of Eddie Durham, Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman (arguably the father of jazz arranging) had a huge influence on the development of big band jazz. They paved the way for later greats such as Quincy Jones, Billy Byers, Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones and, more recently, John Clayton and Gordon Goodwin.
Sweet Thunder, with ten accomplished soloists and a substantial list of arrangements, all carefully crafted for the specific personnel of the band, presents a unique two-hour program that traces the develop of the big band through reference to the arrangers who moulded the big band sound, from Redman and Ellington in the 1920s through to the present day.
‘MUSIC IS MY MISTRESS:
The Genius of Duke Ellington’
In a career that spanned more than 50 years Duke Ellington (1899-1974) produced a wonderful body of work that continues to inspire and influence musicians all over the world. His influence extended from popular to classical music – Stravinsky, for example, when he visited New York, made a point of going to hear the Duke and his orchestra at the famous Cotton Club.
Sweet Thunder, with nine accomplished soloists and a substantial list of arrangements of Ellington’s works, all carefully crafted for the specific personnel of the band, presents a varied and exciting program of the music of this giant of 20th century jazz entitled Music Is My Mistress (the tile of Ellington’s autobiography). The show includes tunes written between 1927 (‘East St Louis Toodle-oo’, ‘Black and Tan Fantasy’) through to pieces written towards the end of his extraordinary life (‘Portrait of Louis Armstrong’, ‘Second Line) as well as tunes written by his long-term associate, Billy Strayhorn (‘Take the A Train’, ‘Raincheck’).
The program is narrated by Sweet Thunder’s leader/pianist/arranger, Rick Best, a keen student of all things Ellington. The band’s name comes from a 1957 Ellington recording entitled Such Sweet Thunder, which comprised a suite of Ellington /Strayhorn compositions inspired by characters from Shakespeare.