FRESH & CRISPY DUCK!
Charles Darwin’s observations in the Galapagos Islands in 1835 were crucial to the development of his theory of natural selection explaining evolution. Put simply, Charlie’s paper -The Origin of Species - proposed ‘survival of the fittest’… that only those best adapted to their environment, will survive.
In 1969, a group of jazz musicians formed to play the winter season at The Kosciusko Ski Chalet in Charlottes Pass. They named this new band Galapagos Duck (in deference to a Spike Milligan sketch rather than our famed scientist). The band has now survived for over 40 years, evolving all that time, adapting to ever-changing environments at every turn… Darwin
would have loved ‘em!
Along with trailblazers like the late, great Graeme Bell and then stars like Don Burrows, George Golla and the Morrison brothers, Galapagos Duck put Australian jazz on the map. They’ve won national and international awards… played throughout America, Asia and Europe… performed at all the big jazz gigs from Montreux to the American Musexpo and the Singapore International
Jazz Festival.
They've played and recorded with the likes of Nina Simone and Ray Charles, James Morrison, Tommy Emmanuel, Don Burrows, Winifred Atwell, The Australian Dance Theatre and The Australian Ballet. They’ve released numerous albums, starting with Ebony Quill in 1974 right through to their most recent offering Out Of The Blue in 2006… and they’ve influenced generations of young musicians through their live performances, volumes of original
compositions and TV appearances.
As reviewer Lloyd Bradford Syke recently wrote in Australian Stage: “The Duck’s reputation doesn't only precede them, it transcends their favoured genre. This band is like a veritable corporation, when one considers the multitude of members it’s had over the years. Len Barnard… Roger Frampton… the Qua brothers… Col Nolan… Ray Aldridge… Warren Daly…
the inventory goes on, like a shopping list for Australia's creme de la creme of jazzers.”