Phil Hatton and The Madhattons 8.00pm tonight at The Ellington

Phil Hatton is a Perth native and was a member of many Perth bands including the Magic Dream Big Band, Nooky Hot Six, Swan City Jazzmen, Fine and Dandy (leader), Downbeat and The Accord before heading to the USA in 1995. He has recently returned to Australia after spending 12 years working as a professional musician and music teacher in the USA where he was a featured artist at over 50 jazz festivals.

He has a Master’s Degree in Music and is currently leading his own band “The Madhattons”, is musical director of the South Perth Lions Big Band and Junior Music Programme and a member of 5 other Perth Bands. The Madhattons is the Perth version of the band he lead in the USA, featuring some of Perth’s finest: Kim Anning on guitar; Benn Hodgkin on trumpet; Rob Hyner on piano; Dave Gryl on drums and Mal Mah on bass.

The band plays an eclectic mix of jazz featuring, but not exclusively, the rarely heard sound combo of clarinet and guitar in the front line, inspired by the sounds of the Benny Goodman sextet. Other inspirations are the West Coast sounds of the 1950’s as typified by the Dave Pell Octet and the Bebop sounds of Clifford Brown, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Horace Silver, etc. Also expect to hear some more contemporary sounds.

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