Martin Dale Quartet

Event Description

The Martin Dale quartet is a long established west country based band, featuringMartin Dale (tenor sax), Gavin Martin (piano), Kevin Sanders (bass), and Dennis Harris (drums).

Martin was brought up in Heamoor, Penzance and has been a full-time musician since he left home at 16 to join the Royal Marines Band Service. He studied jazz saxophone at the Guildhall school of music during his time in the service. He has played with most of the UK’s leading jazz musicians and toured internationally with the Jack Bruce Blues Band.

He plays mainly in the style of his three favourite tenors, Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott and his close friend Dick Morrissey.

Gavin Martin has been MDQ’s regular piano player for quite a few years now, he also had a full career in the band service, playing trumpet and piano. Always eager to learn more tunes, he has become an accomplished jazz player and an extremely fine accompanist. He plays in a few West Country bands and also teaches music in a Plymouth Academy.

Kevin Sanders is a long standing member of the quartet and is one of the most in demand bass players in the south west. He has a wealth of knowledge and you can rarely catch him out when you “call a tune”. A very fine player indeed, and when he’s not playing, he writes for a very popular Bass magazine.

Dennis Harris is the longest serving member of the quartet, he has been with the band since the very beginning and still “swings like the clappers”, not too busy, just a good old “proper groover”, which suits the MDQ perfectly.