THE NAKED CITY – FROM BANKSTOWN TO BUDDY
There are many well-publicised success stories of Australian musicians who have made it big overseas, especially in the pop and classical fields. Less exposed however, are those artists who have proven their talent internationally as sidemen or composers and arrangers. One Australian virtuoso who falls into the latter category is trombonist Dave Panichi, who forged a remarkable career in the US during the 80s and 90s.
Dave’s musical interest began at a very early age when he joined the Bankstown Police Boys Band when he was only eight. By the time he was fourteen he was playing with the Burwood Brass Band, and despite his excellence on the soprano cornet, the band’s conductor Harry Berry encouraged him to try the trombone. With a prodigious talent for his newfound instrument, things began to move really fast and just a few years later he found himself playing professionally. He recalls:
“I was in fifth form in high school and heard about auditions for a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, auditioned, got the gig and promptly left school. I was sixteen and making more money than either of my parents! It was a heady time.”
In his early twenties, Dave’s burgeoning talent was rewarded with a scholarship that enabled him to take off for New York to study under the guidance of a number of musical greats. Whilst many young Australian jazz musicians now travel to New York to study and play, Dave was a real pioneer at the time. He began his Big Apple sojourn by getting lessons from everybody he could including improvisers like Dave Liebman and Hal Galper, later studying composition with Ludmila Ulehla, head of composition at the Manhattan School of Music. He remembers:
“She was excellent at helping you shape a piece, and I wrote a trombone sonata and a brass quintet under her. I also had two or three lessons with Bob Brookmeyer, who had just moved back to NY after leaving LA and getting sober. He refused to let me pay him and absolutely turned around my entire concept of composition in those two or three lessons. The next year I wrote ‘Manhattan’ at the Arranger’s Holiday Course.”
Incredibly, only a few months later Dave was invited to join the band of renowned drummer Buddy Rich, recording Manhattan with him in 1983. Whilst Rich was notorious for his volatile temper and post-gig rants directed at his musicians (preserved for posterity in the infamous “bus tapes”), Dave recalls his time with the eccentric drummer with fondness:
“Hearing your music brought to life by a great band has to be one of the greatest thrills in this profession. Having Buddy’s band play the @#$% out of ‘Manhattan’ every night was such a high. I felt validated for moving to the US. I was playing with a better band than we had back home and they were playing my music every night. I felt like I was right to move there and I was having experiences I couldn’t have back home.”
Whilst with Rich, Dave played with some of the greatest jazz singers of all time – names like Sinatra, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Tony Bennett and Sarah Vaughan. He also played a number of shows with Aretha Franklin, remembering:
“She sang everything you’ve heard her do on record, plus played a beautiful gospel version of ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ on piano.”
In 2000 he returned to Australia, furthering his musical studies with a Masters and Doctorate, forming his own band and guesting with artists such as James Morrison, Ralph Pyl’s Sydney AllStar Big Band and Ten Part Invention. Next Monday he teams up with the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra as part of their featured composer series in what promises to be one of the jazz gigs of the year.
The seventeen piece Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra with guest composer Dave Panichi play Foundry 616 in Ultimo on Monday 14 September as part of the club’s second anniversary. Tickets & info: foundry616.com.au
