He was one of the best bass players I've heard and I was in the business for nine years -- if I could find a bass player like him I'd go back to work... fantastic.
Fabulous find Jimmy!! Thanks for that memory, Dudley Moore apparently once applied for work as a classical pianist, and when he was told 'your hands are too small' he replied 'well, I'll just play the short pieces then' Haha! Typical of him, the guy just wouldn't allow himself to be put down! He went on to prove his brilliance on the piano never the less.
Sensational. Listen also to Dudley at the Hollywood Bowl playing a selection of Gershwin with the incomparable Ray Brown on bass and Nick Ceroli on drums, music for the soul and for posterity. Thank you JS for sharing this music.
I saw something like an old 60 mins special with him not long before Dudley passed away... so sad, broke my heart to pieces to see him get so emotional when he talked about not being able to play anymore :(
I can't imagine what that would be like -- I've been playing jazz piano since 1955 and, at 79, that's about all I have left -- kids moved out a long time ago, wife died... nothin' much left except I can still play. Poor Dudley must have suffered terribly.
Just recently rediscovered this great, great talented man's legacy on RU-vid. Thanks for this! No one like him. Sad for having lost him too soon. Grateful beyond words for these recordings.
even he had never uttered a comedic line, his playing would have spoken volumes for him. loved Dudley Moore trio for ever and funny how this side of his career is in the shadows. jazz for ever Did.
A fine version of I Thought About You, written by Johnny Mercer, with Dud was the late Pete McGurk on bass and Chris Karan on drums. In addition to being a fine pianist(notice the Garnerisms in there?), the trio had the great ability to compress a great deal of fine music in quite a short space of time. They did it week after week in Not Only But Also, and you willl find some great examples on You Tube.
Clean, well rounded sound with a clear grasp of modern jazz piano technique. Can hear elements of Oscar with flights of Errol's driving technique added toward the middle of the piece. Passed away far too soon..
What wonderful playing!! Dud sure could swing! Love his LH voicing too - compact but wow! Very tasty improvs from all the players. This is definitely one to transcribe! Listen to the Errol Garner influence from 2'39". Lovely laid back chords. Lovely Bachean influence at 3'.00" too. Gee, this guy had it all.
There are some of famous artists of yesterday, back in the time when variety artists were common they had to do it all, and do it well. Sing a song, play a musical instrument, tell a joke, know how to act and perform in front of a live audience. And on top of that, do it all on a high professional level. My guess is Dudley Moore fitted that bill perfectly. Maybe he did not get the credits for his musicianship, because of his comedy career takin off, but in hindsight, he must be lucky he got recordings and tv shows to back things up, as far as his musicianship as a pianist is concerned. He sure could play and at a high standard!
Be musician is something that comes from the soul, only the people who have experimented that can understand how important is it for us, he was a talented musician and he really enjoyed his music.
Thanks for your interest. Makes you wonder how there is so much talent in that small figure of a man. Incredible. Here's just a little moore (!) about Dudley's musical history. He was a proficient classical Organist and a Scholar @ Cambridge University. He made a great musical series with Sir George Solti for Channel 4 Television exploring all aspects of classical music and conducting. And away from that, he was pianist with the Johnny Dankworth Orchestra for a time (jazz). He lead his own trio for many years with the great drummer Chris Karan. A great loss to the entertainment world all round. Best Wishes JS
I think it is more likely this is from one of the "Not Only But Also" shows of 1965/66. Quality tunes like this (I Thought About You by Johnny Mercer) were very much favoured on the programme.
We are lucky we have so much 1960's BBC jazz numbers available. The producer insisted that it be recorded on film rather than quickly-erased video tape, hence it's survived.
Thanks for that Chris - Interesting. I wonder why the BBC can't realise there are many of us out here who would love to see more of their Jazz archive. The choice seems to be prevailing 'rock' on BBC 4 most of the time ! - James.
Robert Browning Sadly, much of the BBC's archived video, of whatever genre, was over-recorded. Many comedy shows suffered the same fate, including Dudley and Peter's "Not Only, but Also" first series. Their second series, recorded some years later, incorporated sketches from the one programme of the original six that was retained! About ten years ago, the BBC pleaded for anyone who had recorded certain programmes at home, or staff who had kept copies they could not bear to detroy/over-record, or overseas TV stations who had retained copies, to fill in archival gaps. The response was quite remarkable., apparently, but obviously not 100%! One of my favourite 'NoBA' sketches is on RU-vid - The Facts of Life (Dudley Moore, Peter Cooke) - enjoy the awkwardness!
Wonderful virtuoso performance, including his Errol Garner tribute, with my friend Chis Karan drums . Dudley and the trio performed on the old BBC third program weekly jazz prog' in the late 1950/60. anyone know if there is access to those archives?
I remember Not Only But Also on TV, shame we didn't have VCR's back then as they'd all be still available. For the BBC vandals they were pearls before swine.
A unique, multi-artistic team player. Peter Cooke brought out the best in Dud and vice versa in comedy. But, Dud could act [hence the Hollywood career]. Music always drew Dud and he performed at the Hollywood Bowl and had a television series exploring orchestra. Like George Best, alcohol may have played a major part, but no-one appeared to have a bad word to say about them during their lives and after.
