David Scott MacRae (born 2 April 1940, Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand keyboardist, noted for his contributions in jazz and jazz rock, and his collaborations with musicians from the Canterbury scene.

Life and career

MacRae studied at the

New South Wales Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the ol ...

and then worked in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the 1960s as an arranger for Festival Records. He moved to the United States in 1969, playing with experimental groups in Los Angeles before joining Buddy Rich's ensemble in 1970. He relocated to London in 1971, working that year with jazz musicians

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, Jon Hendricks and Gil Evans. From 1972 to 1980 he was the musical director for The Goodies, arranging and producing the music for seasons 3 to 8 of the television series of the same name, and arranging and performing on their five studio albums. MacRae's wife Joy Yates was a backing vocalist on several of the songs, with both appearing on camera in ''

The Goodies – Almost Live "The Goodies – Almost Live" is an episode of the British comedy television series ''The Goodies''. This episode, which takes the form of a pop concert, is also known as "The Goodies in Concert". The Goodies also appear as "Pan's Grannies". W ...

''. He worked closely with Bill Oddie on the music and together they wrote their most successful song, "

The Funky Gibbon "The Funky Gibbon" is a novelty song very recently recorded by Bill Oddie and The Goodies. It was arranged by Tom Parker ("with interference from Bill Oddie") with the musical backing provided by members of the R&B band Gonzalez and released as a ...

", which peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1975. In 1971, he was briefly with a group called Caparius before he joined Matching Mole, where he remained until 1972. In March 1973, he recorded for the ''Labyrinth'' album with Ian Carr's group

Nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

. Concurrently he played in Elton Dean's band, Just Us. He played in WMWM and

Giles Farnaby's Dream Band Giles Farnaby's Dream Band was a collaboration between the early music ensemble St. George’s Canzona, Derby-based folk group The Druids, and Trevor Crozier’s 'Broken Consort'. They were backed by three jazz musicians: Jeff Clyne (bass guitar ...

in 1973 and did session work for Back Door in 1974, but left Nucleus around this time to concentrate on his own project called Pacific Eardrum, which he led with his wife

Joy Yates The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

until 1979. He continued working with Canterbury musicians such as

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

, Mike Gibbs, and

Richard Sinclair Richard Stephen Sinclair (born 6 June 1948) is an English progressive rock bassist, guitarist, and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene. Biography Born in Canterbury, England, both his father (Dick Sinclair) ...

through the 1970s. In the 1980s, MacRae worked briefly with False Alarm, a band led by

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer. Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...

, which eventually became

I.O.U. An IOU (abbreviated from the phrase "I owe you") is usually an informal document acknowledging debt. An IOU differs from a promissory note in that an IOU is not a negotiable instrument and does not specify repayment terms such as the time of re ...

with the addition of vocalist Paul Williams; and then played in a reconstituted version of

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

in 1984. During the 15 years he spent in the U.K., MacRae also worked with Ronnie Scott, Clifford Jordan, Annie Ross, Cliff Richard, and Scott Walker, and as musical director to '' The Goodies'' television show from series six/1976. He returned to Australia later in 1984, and played in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

area with

Bernie McGann Bernard Francis McGann (22 June 1937 – 17 September 2013) was an Australian jazz alto saxophone player. He began his career in the late 1950s and remained active as a performer, composer and recording artist until near the end of his life. McGan ...

and Ronnie Scott. He is the father of singer

Jade MacRae Jade Aurora Moana MacRae (born 4 June 1979) is an Australian soul singer and the daughter of professional musicians Joy Yates and Dave MacRae. MacRae is best known for her top 40 singles MacRae " So Hot Right Now" and " Superstar", both release ...

References

Other sources

* Roger T. Dean, "Dave MacRae". '' Grove Jazz'' online.

External links

* of Joy Yates and Dave MacRae * *
Goodies Podcast interview with Dave MacRae
Recorded 9 February 2010.
AudioCulture profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macrae, Dave 1940 births Living people Canterbury scene People from Auckland New Zealand jazz musicians Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni Jazz fusion keyboardists Nucleus (band) members Matching Mole members Emanem Records artists