DALY-WILSON: DYNAMIC BIG BAND by Eric Myers _____________________________________________________________ The Daly-Wilson Big Band re-emerged for the first time in 1980 for a series of concerts at the Argyle Courtyard last week. The Sydney Morning Herald jazz critic ERIC MYERS takes a look at the story of one of the most dynamic big bands Australia has seen. Drummer Warren Daly (left) & trombonist Ed Wilson… PHOTO COURTESY WARREN DALY COLLECTION hen drummer Warren Daly and trombonist Ed Wilson gathered together a group of young musicians for a rehearsal big band at W Sydney's Stage Club in 1969, few thought that, in 1980, they would be in the 11th year of the Daly-Wilson Big Band. Yet these two unassuming musicians, through sheer hard work and dedication to an idea, have created the only Australian big band within living memory which can list achievements comparable to those of the prestigious American big bands led by musicians such as Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich. The success of the Daly-Wilson Big Band over the last 10 years is on the record. It has released eight LPs, all of which have sold well, and two have had outstanding sales. The Daly-Wilson Big Band On Tour (1973) sold more than 1 30,000 and its highest selling LP Daly-Wilson in Australia sold more than 60,000 and now has two gold records. It has mounted a national tour of Australia almost every year. In 1975, with the Whitlam Government picking up the tab, the band made a triumphant tour of the Soviet Union playing to more than 100,000 people in three weeks. Twenty concerts were given, mainly in Moscow and Leningrad, the tour was sold out, and members of the band still talk about their standing ovations, the excitement of which was captured in Bernie Cannon's TV documentary Big Band In Russia. The Daly-Wilson Big Band, circa 1975, shortly after its return from its tour of the Soviet Union… Despite the Daly-Wilson Big Band's successes on all these fronts it has often been criticized in Australian jazz circles. Like other areas of the performing arts, the jazz scene is peopled by highly competitive purists who are quick to denounce what they consider to be non-creative. Neither Daly nor Wilson are primarily composers (although Ed Wilson has produced some excellent compositions in recent years) and are therefore open to the claim that their music is derivative. 2 Also. the hand's great success has automatically deflated its reputation among those who see mass popularity as a sell-out to the taste of the lowest common denominator. Don Burrows, who enjoys a similar type of popularity with middle-of-the- road jazz fans, is another who attracts criticism on this count. Rather than relying on wholly original music, the Daly-Wilson Big Band is eclectic: it draws on popular songs and ballads of the day arranged for its own line-up, jazz standards such as the Ellington repertoire, semi-classical works such as the Peer Gvnt Suite and Scheherazade arranged for big band, plus an input of original tunes by Daly and Wilson themselves. The strengths of the band are twofold: its great ability in live performance, where its sound is built around the dynamic playing of Warren Daly himself, one of the few virtuoso big band drummers this country has produced, and the musical arrangements, chiefly written by Ed Wilson, who uses to advantage his shrewd knowledge of big band voicings and players’ capabilities. The band’s sound is built around the dynamic playing of Warren Daly himself, one of the few virtuoso big band drummers this country has produced… 3 Daly and Wilson have also had to withstand relative indifference in the media. Their LP sales have been achieved with almost negligible airplay on Australian radio, other than occasional ABC outlets. As for the press, it has rarely given the band dignified appraisal. Music critics in the early 1970s tended to see the hand merely as a provincial attempt by two suburban Sydney lads to create a carbon-copy of American bands. The press in general has been such a disappointment to Ed Wilson and Warren Daly that, these days they rarely give interviews, and agree to them only with writers who have demonstrated a serious interest in the music itself. In fact, the Daly-Wilson big band had to go to the United States to receive its best press. Its appearances there in 1975 were an achievement which has never been fully appreciated in Australia. They played three concerts at the Hilton in Las Vegas, and the engagement was extended to six nights. Their seventh and last concert, at Donte's in the San Fernando Valley, was reviewed by one of America's leading jazz writers Leonard Feather in the Los Angeles Times. In his review, Feather wrote: For the big band fan, receptive to swinging sounds with typically American touches of jazz/rock, this was a most agreeable evening ... The Daly-Wilson band carries two important weapons in its arsenal: precision and excitement. The brass section hit each phase with accuracy and flawless intonation, the saxes captured a Ducal essence in Take The A Train, and the rhythm team, thanks mainly to the dynamism of Daly, compares with some of this country's best. Jazz critic Leonard Feather: two important weapons in the band’s arsenal: precision and excitement… 4 Sponsorship by the Benson and Hedges company has been a constant element in the Daly-Wilson story. The first three years of the band's existence (1969-71) were successful in terms of concerts and records, but financial difficulties forced its disbandment in late 1971. During 1972, the band was unable to perform at all. In 1973, Benson and Hedges were considering a number of ideas to celebrate their centenary. A local Sydney trumpet player who worked for the company (and who had occasionally played with the Daly-Wilson Big Band) noticed that one of the options put forward by the company's advertising agency was sponsorship of music. It was suggested that Benson and Hedges bring the Daly- Wilson Big Band back for a three-month tour of Australia under the company's banner. That tour took place and was a huge success. The band played continuously for three months. Such was the professional promotion of Benson and Hedges and the wide appeal of the band that the tour led to Daly-Wilson's first gold album, The Daly-Wilson Big Band On Tour. For Daly and Wilson, the sponsorship by Benson and Hedges has been a two- edged sword. On the one hand, it has indubitablv enabled the hand to survive throughout the 1970s. On the other hand, it has somehow given the band an illusive aura of privilege in the competitive music and entertainment industries. 5 During the early years, there had been a good deal of idealism and support for the band in some sections of the press. Once B & H stepped in to ensure the band's survival, the writers lost interest. The truth is that Warren Daly and Ed Wilson, through sheer tenacity, created something original in Australian music: the first big band in this country to capture not only the flavour of big band jazz, but also the excitement and intensity of rock music. Daly (on the right) performing in the US with clarinetist Buddy De Franco in 1968. Other musicians include John LaBarbera (piano) & Chuck Lawson (bass)… PHOTO COURTESY WARREN DALY COLLECTION And, their basic concept has been remarkably consistent. In 1967-68 Warren Daly spent 12 months in the United States, where he was resident drummer with two top American big bands — firstly, Si Zentner's band, and then the Glenn Miller Orchestra (led by clarinetist Buddy de Franco) which toured the United States and Japan. ______________________________________________________________ Eric Myers writes (August, 2020): For a response to this article, see the letter to myself written by Warren Daly dated August 22, 2020, which commences on the following page: 6 LETTER TO ERIC MYERS by Warren Daly OAM _________________________________________________ ric Myers writes (August, 2020): Circa mid-2020 I commenced putting up onto this website reviews and articles of mine that were published while I E was the Sydney Morning Herald’s jazz critic, 1980-82. I decided to do this, not because I’m particularly enamoured with my profound insights into the music I was reviewing some 40 years ago, but because such reviews and articles served to document jazz performances and jazz activity during those years. In April, 1980 I was into my third month as the SMH’s inaugural jazz critic when the arts editor asked me to do a feature article on the Daly-Wilson Big Band, on the occasion of their re-emergence for a series of concerts at the Argyle Centre in The Rocks, Sydney. Entitled “Daly-Wilson: Dynamic Big Band” it appeared on the Arts page of the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, April 12, 1980. It appears on this website directly above this text (see page 1). Because I was aware that Warren Daly had a comprehensive collection of photographs and memorabilia, I contacted him (in August, 2020) to ask if he could provide better photos than the ones I had in hand. Subsequently Warren read the article, and was highly critical of its content. Accordingly Warren provided the following letter to myself dated August 22, 2020, where he responded in detail to the content of that article. Warren Daly: highly critical of the article “Daly-Wilson: Dynamic Big Band”… PHOTO COURTESY WARREN DALY PRIVATE COLLECTION 7 i Eric, Thank you for your email inviting clarification re my disappointment at your reposting your 1980 article “Daly-Wilson: Dynamic Big Band” and H with your expectation that I might supply different photos to give new life to it.