Mad & Eddie Duran, San Francisco's First Couple of Instrumental Jazz
Jazz at Pearl's (256 Columbus Ave. San Francisco, CA 94133)
- Full Price:
- $10.00 - $100.00
- Our Price:
- $5.00 - $50.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Mad & Eddie Duran have expired.
The last date listed for Mad & Eddie Duran was Sunday June 15, 2008 / 10:00pm.
Most Popular Jazz Event Nearby:
Jazz Greats Perform Live at Catalina Bar and Grill
- Full Price:
- $20.00 - $50.00
- Our Price:
- $10.00 - $25.00
This supper club hosts great live jazz and cabaret in a setting with Old World charm. Catalina has lived up to its slogan "Nothing But the Best in Jazz" by presenting a veritable Who's Who of jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Ray Brown, Joe Williams, Max Roach, Carmen McRae, Joe Henderson, Benny Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman and many more. See the full event listing for the lineup of upcoming performers. Learn More
More Information About Mad & Eddie Duran
Website
http://www.madneddieduran.com/first.htm
Quotes & Highlights
- “Palpable emotional and musical chemistry... a warm, glowing core, whether the tunes are straight-ahead standards or Afro-Cuban and Brazilian, Eddie boasts complete choral and melody-line virtuosity, and Mad, especially on tenor, elegantly reflects the influence of Stan Getz.” --SF Bay Guardian
- “Their extraordinary musical rapport brings a clarity, an ease, an incomparable sense of play to each note. They reinvent familiar tunes, create distinctive originals, transform swing into samba and ballads into haunting sonic journeys.” --Downbeat Magazine
- “...whether Eddie is soloing or comping, he is playing at the top of his game.” --20th Century Guitar Magazine
- “Mad Duran is just what jazz needs--soul, swing and a breath of femininity.” --San Francisco Chronicle
Description
Eddie Duran was born 75 years ago in San Francisco into a musical family of Mexican heritage. “Our parents loved music and never objected to our following a musical career,” he says. Django Reinhardt was Eddie’s first inspiration, followed by Charlie Christian (“He was the big one for electric guitar in a jazz band”), Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney and Tal Farlow, who like Eddie, were known for their bright swinging melodicism.
Although he did take a year of lessons, Eddie considers himself and “ear player.” “Music is this spiritual and intangible thing, and you’ve got to feel it coming out of you,” he says. He was a professional at the age of 15, and in the heyday of the San Francisco bebop scene, he played and recorded with such Fantasy stars as Vince Guaraldi, Red Norvo, and Cal Tjader, as well as with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, George Shearing, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Benny Goodman, Pearl Bailey and Barbara Streisand. In the 1980s Eddie recorded three albums as a leader for Concord Jazz Records, two of them nominated for Grammy Awards.
Eddie’s first wife died in 1977. His children were all grown, and his music was his life when, seven years later, he met Mad while he was playing at the Cotati Jazz Festival north of San Francisco.
Madaline grew up in Belmont, south of San Francisco, and began playing clarinet when she was ten. “I heard a neighbor playing one and I liked the sound.” While her parents were convinced it was another of Mad’s consuming interests that would soon wane, the clarinet became her obsession. In junior high she added alto saxophone, and tenor in high school. During her senior year she was selected as a member of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s High School All Star Band. “At that point I was a classical player and hadn’t thought of jazz,” she admits. “I was out of my element, but the festival was so exciting, just to be around such greats as Oliver Nelson, John Lewis and Clark Terry.”
From that point jazz was a part of her musical life. She earned her degree in classical music at the University of Miami, but throughout she also played in the college big band and jazz ensembles. Out of college she landed not a musical but a restaurant job, then started a successful wine country catering business, “which is a lot like being a freelance musician.” But at the age of 28, with 18 years devoted to music, she was at a career crossroads and food seemed to have the upper hand. Meeting Eddie at the Cotati Jazz Festival provided the catalyst to choose music. They quickly established a personal and professional partnership, with Mad sitting in at Eddie’s San Francisco area gigs, playing sax and flute, and through his tutoring and encouragement, later becoming a full musical partner with Eddie.