Hi All.  I hope that some of you may be able to help me. Myself and my fiancee are getting married in September 2009 in Donegal and would love to have a sax/clarinet player at our drinks reception after the ceremony - just to play for about 2 hours.  My grandfather was Dave Dickson so it would be great if someone that knew him could contact me about this. Maybe you might know of someone who is willing to do it that lives in donegal.  Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Lorraine Clarke

Hi Lorraine,

You may have a problem getting a sax player to play on his own for two hours also may I say non stop solo sax would sound a bit strange after a while. A player who could handle this would need a really extensive repotoire to fill two hours without repeating. In other words he would need somebody to accompany him
There may me some guy around who has backing tracks or even an accoustic guitar player who would be familiar with the type of music played be sax players i.e. Jazz/Standards.
Your best bet might be to ask the guys in your wedding band if they know a sax player and then work out a deal with the keyboard/Guitar player to back him.
Anyway, it's a nice idea and I hope it works out for you. Many years ago I played with the late Pat McGuigan who was vocalist in your grandfather's band.... he had many a tale to tell.

Good luck on your big day.

Barry

Thanks Barry for the advice.  We still don't have a wedding band - still looking. We want a Jazz band for the reception. Could you reccomend any band that would be willing to travel to Donegal.  

I met Paddy McGuigan when I was a kid. He was a very nice man. My grandad died when I was about 7 yrs old so unfortunately I dont have as many memories of him as I would have liked - but I still got to go and hear him play.

Thanks again Barry for your reply.

Lorraine

Hi Lorraine,

You could try the Big Jim Farley Band. Jim is a truly great saxophone player and his band is very popular in the  wedding and corporate circuit. An added bonus would be the possibility that Jim and his keyboard player would do your drinks reception as well as the night gig.
As to fees, you would have to sort that out with Jim but you must bear in mind you are booking him for two gigs,

I'll send you his number as a private message.

Regards

Barry