On the occasion of Cyril’s 90th birthday he was surprised by the unveiling of a new tune, That Monaghan Strut, a wonderful tribute from the brilliant multi-instrumentalist Michael McQuaid to his long-term friend. This was an extraordinary effort from Michael and all the musicians involved.
That Monaghan Strut
Michael McQuaid now lives in London where he has established himself as a leading exponent of early jazz. The mode of putting the recording together was remarkable. Michael wrote the tune in early September. It was intended to be a little reminiscent, without being derivative, of early Graeme Bell, which in 1948 was the first jazz band Cyril heard.
Michael sent out the parts one by one to the musicians in the UK and USA who recorded their own audio files and sent them to Michael. Each time a new track was added Michael sent out the updated audio file to the next musician. The recording order was: piano, drums, tuba, banjo, cornet, clarinet, alto, and trombone. Then Michael put it all together.
The musicians involved were:
- Colin Hancock (US) – cornet
- Michael McQuaid (AUS/UK) – clarinet & alto sax
- Graham Hughes (UK) – trombone & sousaphone
- Curtis Volp (UK) – banjo
- Andrew Oliver (US) – piano
- Nicholas D. Ball (UK) – drums
