Festival Director Rebecca Chambers says in this Anzac centenary year she is proud to be hosting Australia's premier legacy jazz act Galapagos Duck at the National Jazz Festival.
Galapagos Duck became well known in the Australian jazz and music scene during the 1970s, when it was the house band atthe emerging jazz nightclub, The Basement, in Sydney.
Since then the band has won national and international awards, played everywhere from Asia to America and Europe (including the famed Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland) and influenced generations of young musicians through their live performances, volumes of original compositions and television appearances.
Galapagos Duck is the best known jazz band in Australia and a crowd favourite at jazz festivals everywhere. The band's line-up has changed from time to time over 40 years, but one of those originals who played The Basement gigs all those years ago, sax player Willy Qua, is back, along with bass player/guitarist John Conley who boasts a mere 30 year association with the band.
Other players in the current line-up include: Richard Booth (sax, clarinet, flute and steel drum), Rodney Ford (drums and vocals) and the flamboyant New Zealander Wil Sargisson (keys), who was only born afterthe original Galapagos Duck had been playing The Basement for 11 years.
