Dave Tidball (clarinet, bass clarinet)
Jim Dukey (clarinet, bass clarinet)
Dick Mathias (clarinet, bass clarinet)
Charlie Keagle (clarinet)

A return engagement by a favorite aggregation!

With this concert, the Albatross Clarinet Quartet will present an array of new music, most of it conceived and arranged within the last year. The pieces range from straight-ahead be-bop to poly-tonal funk, musical commentary on classical pieces from the late 19th century as well as some “free” improvisation. All are written by members of the quartet, as well as two offerings by Paul Potyen, a supremely gifted musician and an old friend.

At length did cross an Albatross,
Through the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God’s name.

It ate the food it ne’er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!

And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner’s hollo!–

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1797).

Dick Mathias works as a woodwind doubler in the pit orchestras of  several Bay Area musical theatre companies, and freelances with chamber  music groups, jazz ensembles, bands and orchestras. He is a member of  the music faculty at the Branson School in Marin. Dick studied  composition at the San Francisco Conservatory with Ivan Tcherepnin,  Robert Moran, and John Adams; and maintains an avid interest in the  intersection of early/mid twentieth century jazz and classical  experimental composers.

Charlie Keagle studied with Francis Cardillo while a member of the Berkshire Symphony. He received an MA in Composition from the University of Washington, studying with Ken Benshoof and Bill Smith while performing with the Contemporary Music Performance Group. Charlie is experienced in multiple musical styles “from Palestrina to Rock’n’Roll” as evidenced by his performance credits, which include Shelley Manne, Howard Roberts, The Band, and Full Faith and Credit as well as numerous shows and recordings, including Hair, The Day The Earth Stood Still and Beach Blanket Babylon.

Jim Dukey graduated from San Francisco State College, having majored in Clarinet and Composition. He has been a long-time member of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, SF Opera, Oakland Symphony and Silicon Valley and California Symphony Orchestras. Jim has also led and performed with numerous jazz groups and big bands, including appearances with Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz and Joe Lovano.

Dave Tidball grew up in Wales and began playing clarinet at age 13. He performed with his father’s dance band before re-locating and becoming involved in the London jazz scene, including tenure with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and British jazz fusion pioneers Turning Point. More recently, he performed and recorded with Paula West, Triceratops and Three Tenors No Opera. Currently, he is involved with Ian Dogole’s Hemispheres and FivePlay Jazz Quintet. Dave also works as a music teacher for Oakland Public schools and plays tenor sax with the teachers’ Big Band, Big O.