Art Themen & The Spin Special (featuring Liam Dunachie)

Thursday 13th April 2023

This gig will be an overdue treat for The Spin, welcoming back the truly legendary virtuosic saxophonist, Art Themen! To illustrate this sobriquet just a little:

Art toured the world fronting Stan Tracey's quartet for 20 years and has been featured with virtually everyone on the UK jazz scene. In addition, he has played alongside American legends including Philly Joe Jones, George Coleman, Red Rodney, Nat Adderley, Arturo Sandoval, Scott Hamilton...the list goes on and on!. Outside the jazz scene, he has accompanied such diverse artists as Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Rod Stewart, Jack Bruce, Joe Cocker, Chuck Berry, Alexis Korner and, even Bing Crosby!

That brief resumé alone should give you the measure of this highly creative musician. There are great press quotes galore out there, but this, in a 4-star review by Dave Gelly in The Observer sums them all up, beautifully succinctly: “Themen is one of the very few totally original, utterly engaging jazz musicians around”.

Joining the band for this night will be the outstanding ‘Hammond’ organ player, Liam Dunachie! Liam has performed with his own band at The Spin and also wooed and wowed audiences as a sideman. An exceptional musician, Liam has also garnered many a great press review, but let this example make the case: 

“What's even more to the point, she has in Dunachie a pianist of exceptional versatility, responsive to her every move and able to switch from rumbustious New Orleans style r&b to solid blues and rock ‘n’ roll before calming down for something quietly lyrical, all with consummate ease” - London Jazz News