Tribute to a Drumming Legend

The Unforgettable Music of the Legendary Buddy Rich Superbly Recreated by Pete Cater and His Big Band

P E T E C A T E R

PRESS INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Touring the UK now
The unforgettable music of the legendary Buddy Rich
Superbly recreated by Pete Cater and his Big Band
There can be few more exciting sounds in music than the Big Band. The huge sound of fifteen musicians at the top of their game playing high energy, swinging, superbly crafted arrangements has a structure, cohesion, power and passion that communicates to listeners across the entire demographic, casual listener and connoisseur alike and for this reason remains arguably the most popular and accessible form of jazz.

There can be no finer example of this in British music than The Pete Cater Big Band.


These days though as far as broadcast media goes big band music seems to have been relegated to a backdrop to X-Factor contestants or the career move of choice for faded pop stars. In spite of this drummer/ bandleader Pete Cater is single-handedly on a mission to keep big band music real, and is doing so by re-creating some of the genre’s most iconic and coolest music in live concerts throughout the UK. In addition he has built a huge international following by using contemporary internet technology to re-invigorate interest in a musical genre with its roots in the past.

Perhaps even more remarkably, drum solos are cool again.

It’s usually the moment during a gig when whole swathes of the audience make for the bar as on stage there remains one lonely and hapless figure, shirt off, as he contemplates stretching his several weeks of musical training to fill the next ten minutes.
Contrast this then with the urbane, sharp dressing, straight talking Pete Cater, undoubtedly one of the UK’s greatest jazz drummers, who is experiencing huge interest in his latest project. Throughout this year and on into 2011 Pete, together with his 15-piece big band will be recreating the work of drum legend Buddy Rich.

The concert will contain virtually all the best-remembered and most frequently requested items from Rich’s repertoire, and is a rare opportunity to hear this repertoire played live exactly as it was intended to sound.
Expect to hear “West Side Story”, “Love for Sale”, “Norwegian Wood” and much more of the unforgettable music made famous by arguably the most successful big band of the 60s, 70s and 80s. This could easily be said to be the ultimate challenge for any drummer, but Pete Cater is more than up to the task.

Rich was the foremost drum star of the big band era, coming in the wake of the legendary trailblazer Gene Krupa, the man who made the drummer into a star soloist. Rich was a sometimes controversial figure and his notorious sarcasm caused him to be punched by a number of show business luminaries ranging from Frank Sinatra to Dusty Springfield. Also a recording exists of him bawling out the musicians in his band for not playing to what he considered an appropriate standard. Pete Cater is fortunately unimpeded by any such personality quirks.

Pete Cater first took to the stage as leader of his own big band while still a teenager. He has had his current band since 1995, appearing throughout the UK and Europe. The band can be heard on three internationally acclaimed CDs, all of which have featured new music that has combined the best of the core values of big bands whilst presenting a forward looking approach to the music.

Not only commanding the respect of his peers, Pete Cater’s achievements have been acknowledged by musical aristocracy from earlier eras.

After opening his Radio 2 show with an unannounced Pete Cater track, the legendary musician and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton merely said,

“OK, now stand up everyone who thought that was the Buddy Rich band”.

Britain’s original king of big band swing drumming is of course Jack Parnell. In later years Jack was musical director for the Muppet show which featured the famous Buddy Rich vs. Animal drum battle. Of Pete Cater’s current project he says,

“A simply terrific band, and nobody could do a better tribute to Buddy Rich than Pete Cater”.


In more surprising turn of events, an early album track by Pete Cater’s big band is fast becoming an underground club hit, and will feature on Freestyle Records’ upcoming compilation CD entitled ‘Music For Jazz Dancers’.
Upcoming tour dates are as follows;
26/5/10 Swan Theatre, High Wycombe 01494 512000
27/5/10 Millfield Theatre, Edmonton 0208 807 6680
5/6/10 Pavilion Theatre, Worthing 01903 206206
18/7/10 Wyvern Theatre, Swindon 01793 524481
25/7/10 Derngate Theatre, Northampton 01604 624811
30/9/10 Lighthouse, Poole 08444 068666
7/10/10 Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham 01242 572573
The final concert for 2010 will be at Cadogan Hall, London on November 15th, with the first dates for 2011 to be announced shortly

When Buddy Rich passed away in 1987 commentators stated;
“We will never see his like again”.
Not so, it would seem.
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Related Links
http://www.petecaterbigband.com
http://www.numberonemusic.com/petecaterbigband
http://www.twitter.com/petecaterdrums