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Derek Dalton - trumpet / trombone / flugelhorn / clarinet / French Horn / Euphonium / Tuba / vocals/band arrangements
Derek is one of Australia’s finest jazz players, thrilling audiences around the country with his superb skills and fine melodic solos. He’s a fine team-player too, working hard to ensure the repertoire stays fresh and keeping fellow band members motivated to give each audience a great experience.
Derek started playing Piano at 7 yrs old then started Trumpet at 10 yrs old , Derek’s performing career started in 1956 ( when he was 11 yrs old ) with his fathers band ''The Dalton Family Dixielanders'' in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK)
He then went on to play with Gordon Solomon's Band, The Phoenix Jazzmen (1965 - 1969) which toured Poland after also playing with several of his brothers' rock groups including The Jub-Jub Clique Band.
Derek joined Jack Hawkins and His Sound of the Seventies at Portsmouth Locarno in 1969 and moved back with Jack to play at the Oxford Galleries in Newcastle upon Tyne and later the Blackpool Locarno Ballroom, where he worked with artists like Harry H Corbett (from Steptoe & Son).
He then left Jack in late 1971 to join Ken Mackintosh & his Orchestra at the Hammersmith Palais in London. In 1972 he emigrated to Australia (his trade is carpentry & joinery) arriving on Monday 8th May 1972. On Thursday 11th May he went to the Southern Jazz Club at the Flagstaff Hotel, had a sit-in with the resident band and that night was offered a job playing 4 nights a week with Mal Badenoch at the Pizza Palace in Klemzig where he stayed for 3 years. Band members were John Cavanagh (Banjo& Vocals), Harry Hewson ( Drums, Bones), Derek Dalton ( Trumpet & Tuba) and Mal Badenoch (Piano ). Mal used to augment the Band with Ernie Alderslade (Trom) Brother Ron Dalton (Clarinet) and Sister Doreen Crozier (nee Dalton) (Double Bass) and the bigger band was called The Pizza Palace Paraders.
After the Pizza Palace was taken over by Pizza Hut it all changed and by 1973 Derek had formed his own band Derek Dalton & his Phoenix Jazzmen ( the Australian version of Gordon Solomon's Phoenix Jazzmen).
After many recording dates with the ABC in 1974 they recorded an album for Philips Australia (Polydor Label).
After a stint at The Once a Jolly Swagman Restaurant at Littlehampton Derek joined the South Australian Police Band on March 16th 1978. He has perfomed with the SA Police Band on two Edinburgh Tattoo's (1990 and 2000) and as the Lone Bugler at the end of the 1990 Tattoo Video, a Royal Tournament (1998) at Earls Court in London and many concerts all over Australia.
He was one of the original founders of the Police Dixie Band and on Derek's Phoenix CD Upover DownUnder was given permission to use 2 tracks from the band recorded live on the paddle steamer ''The Mundoo'' at Goolwa, during one of their cruises. Derek still thinks they were the best recordings he ever heard the Dixie band play as it was more free style Dixieland (not written down). He also played on 2 CDs with The SA Police Band on French Horn (Christmas Recollections and On Parade).
During this time he performed on stage at the Festival Theatre with The Monkees, also with the Our Thing BigBand backing Matt Monroe at the Old Lion Hotel (which is still one of his biggest thrills).
Derek retired after 23 yrs from the Police Band in 2001.
As well as high-flying his horn, Derek also achieved his Private Pilot licence in 1988 (he likes doing aerobatics). His son-in law has his own plane (RV6).
Derek also does leather work and has over the years made banjo straps for both Norm Koch and Peter Hooper.
Derek has played with most of the best local and interstate bands on Trumpet / Trombone / Clarinet, such as Peter Hooper's Royal Garden Jazzband (tpt,trm), The JazzaHolics (tpt,trm,clt), Bruce Gray Allstars (tpt,trm), Ken Way's various bands (tpt,trm), Splash Drinkwater's Northern Jazzband (tpt,trm), The Climax JazzBand (tpt), Eddy White Allstars (tpt ,trm), Rod Andrews & the Hot Peppers JazzBand (Melbourne) (trm, clt) and of course, Derek's current band The Phoenix Jazz & Swing Band (tpt,trm,clt,flugelhorn).
Derek is currently a member of Gail Kingston & Hotfoot Jazz and does many interstate tours with the Band.
His most popular recording is "Up Over To Downunder", a compilation of his selected recordings from 1965-2000. On the inside cover of the CD there is a photograph of The Dalton Family Dixielanders taken in 1957 when Derek was 12 yrs old. Sister Doreen is on Bass, and Ronald is standing at the back on Clarinet. The others are (Father) Herbert. H. Dalton on drums, Brothers Wilfred on Tenor Sax, and Terrence on Trombone. The Pianist was a family friend called Benny Needham, one of the greatest Piano players Derek has ever heard in his life. Wilf ( who has just retired after teaching music for the last 30 or so years at a College in Crewe UK) was in Australia a couple of years ago and played Alto Sax on Marianne Rich's CD called Moon Glow with Derek's Phoenix Jazz Quintet. There was no rehearsal; he just walked in and played - still as brilliant as ever.