|
The Omaha Symphony teams up with megaband Blood, Sweat & Tears, complete with lead singer David Clayton-Thomas, for two great nights of 60’s rock on October 3rd-4th at 8 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater. A third performance is scheduled for October 5th at 2 p.m.
Clayton-Thomas hasn’t missed a beat since his days in Greenwich Village in the 60’s when he was asked to join the American musical institution Blood, Sweat & Tears. His voice cuts through the horns that still characterize their fiery fusion of jazz, rock and blues. Their three gold singles, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “And When I Die,” and of course, “Spinning Wheel” are considered pop music classics by young and old.
As a daring and innovative band that was at the top of the music industry in 1972 with five successive gold albums, this diverse group creates a sound that still defies boundaries and is performed with consummate artistry. Clayton-Thomas has never sounded better and BS & T once again delivers the same exciting music, such as “You’re The One,” “God Bless The Child,” and “That Lucky Old Sun,” that made it a part of America’s musical heritage.
Join the Omaha Symphony and the revitalized Blood, Sweat & Tears during three exciting nights at the Orpheum Theater. Tickets are available starting at $14.50 through the Omaha Symphony Box Office at 402.342.3560, or at the website, www.omahasymphony.org.
David Clayton-Thomas
Although he was from a suburb of Toronto, Canada, David Clayton-Thomas’ earliest musical influences were Motown and Chicago blues. While he was still in his teens, David began playing guitar and singing in “garage bands,” and the by the time he was twenty-one, he was playing rhythm and blues on Toronto’s “Strip.” His band played alongside Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Albert King, Otis Rush, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations.
From his first venture into the recording studio, which produced his first hit “Boom Boom,” to Paul Anka inviting David to New York to guest on NBC’s “Hullabaloo,” he also kept playing alongside the blues bands he worshipped. After relocating in the Village in New York City to play with the great bluesmen, such as Sonny Terry, Willie Dixon and Sam Hopkins, folk singer Judy Collins introduced him to Bobby Columby, the founder of the then-faltering band Blood, Sweat & Tears. When David joined the band, an American musical institution was born.
BS&T’s first album with David sold ten million copies and launched three gold singles, “You Made Me So Very Happy,” “And When I Die,” and “Spinning Wheel.” After five successive albums and three more gold singles, BS& T was at the top of the industry.
The band’s daring and innovative fusion of jazz, rock and blues as well as the classics defied all boundaries. BS&T played in front of a symphony one night and thousands of rock bands the next, performing at all venues with consummate artistry. In concert, the band was a musical powerhouse, but inwardly it was in turmoil. Following grueling years of concert touring, the original band members left and David was the only one left from the original glory years.
It was only when David teamed up with director/trumpeter Steve Guttman, a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, along with an exciting lineup of top New York musicians, that BS&T came storming back to the concert stages of the world.
Following induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996 where he takes his place alongside his country’s giants such as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, David Clayton-Thomas today carries on the fine musical tradition of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Their repertoire embraces all genres and the band shifts effortlessly from classical chorale to jazz improvisation and pure F. The force that holds it all together is the Clayton-Thomas voice, which is still beautifully controlled and soulful with the Blues, yet edgy through rock tunes. He continues to delight audiences throughout the world as one of the most remarkable voices in music.