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108 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013<br />
Interview Dennis Mackrel<br />
dm: it does sound a little wild, but a lot of those came through mel. his health was<br />
also failing, and he sent a lot of sessions my way. That was a very bad time for<br />
so many people – mel had so many friends, and we hated to watch him go down<br />
like that. When he eventually had to quit, he let it be known that his choice of<br />
successor in the vanguard orchestra was me.<br />
CAD: Quite an accolade?<br />
dm: right, absolutely.<br />
CAD: You’ve moved into an extensive amount of work in Europe?<br />
dm: Yes, and mel even comes into an important part of that. although he was not<br />
at all well, he was in Germany playing for this big important concert tour, and was<br />
taken ill right at its peak. as it happened, i was in austria, had just wound up a<br />
tour, and i got the call to replace mel for the remainder of his tour, which i did.<br />
CAD: So you were introduced to Europe at the top end and at the right time?<br />
dm: i guess that’s right. like i say, God puts me in the right place. The european<br />
scene was almost bursting with activity with beautiful reaction from audiences at<br />
concerts of big bands, full orchestras, choirs, smaller groups, the whole range, and<br />
a large amount of it recorded for broadcasting. The coverage is great right across<br />
the music spectrum, and much of it can be heard world-wide, not only on radio but<br />
television as well.<br />
CAD: Now you were able to use the full range of skills?<br />
dm: Yes i was soon conducting large ensembles as well as writing arrangements,<br />
and also moving more heavily into the educational field.<br />
CAD: Has this led to even more travelling?<br />
dm: it has. apart from workshop work on tours, i’ve become an educator in most of<br />
europe, asia, canada and of course the usa.<br />
CAD: You took over leadership of the Basie Band from Bill Hughes in September<br />
2010 and there are heaps of gigs scheduled, do you still enjoy the job?<br />
dm: i do, i do. luckily, that Basie schedule is fairly open, so i can still work with<br />
other projects.<br />
CAD: With all this activity, do you still love playing?<br />
dm: i most certainly do.<br />
CAD: So how do you keep up your jazz chops?<br />
dm: now that’s the tough one! (laughter)
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