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Full Circle

Mario Suraci - Bass     Jim Nichols - Guitar     Dave Bendigkeit - Trumpet

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Working the Jazz Standards

Full Circle Concerts

An old concept has once again been revitalized in Jazz. The group “Full Circle”, featuring Dave Bendigkeit on Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Jim Nichols on Guitar and  Bassist Mario Suraci plays jazz standards. After decades of musical endeavor, these three gentlemen do what they do best: they play this music in its most pure form. 

Listen to their CD: “Take One”

Dave Bendigkeit describes the band: In our working musician’s lives, we eventually branched off into work in commercial bands, shows, backing up various acts (you name them, we’ve played with them), and, of course, playing in wonderful jazz groups. The group‘s name of Full Circle refers to a return to our roots of playing jazz music in its most pure form, that of the small group, where creativity and listening are of paramount importance. Our intent is to return to a more honest era where musicians had only their instruments and skills to use in making music.

 

 

Mario Suraci is one of the most sought after Bass Players on both coasts. Mario has performed in 21 Broadway shows and played with some of the greatest bands ever. He has recorded with Joe Pass, Art Pepper, Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson and Hampton Hawes, and traveled with Morgana King, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone, Eartha Kitt, to mention a few. He also played with James Moody, Benny Goodman, Louie Bellson, and John Faddis to mention others.

“Today I try to limit myself to no more than three months on the road a year, with groups like Louie Bellson, Bernadette Peters, and James Moody,” says Mario. And yet he still finds time to play with Full Circle as often as he can, restore classic cars and sail. Taking care of the music business has allowed Mario Suraci to live “the sweet life” in his terms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 Jim Nichols impressive credentials include appearances on television, radio, concert halls, and clubs including Carnegie Hall and the Tonight Show. He has played and/or recorded with Kenny Rankin, Chet Atkins, Hubert Laws, Buddy Montgomery, Van Morrison, Toots Thielemans, Tom Waits, and others. He was featured at the ’97 Django Reinhardt Festival in France with the great European guitarists, Romane and Martin Taylor. His solo CD was chosen by Guitar Player Magazine as a "Pick of the Year" for ’96 and in January of 2001, Jim was interviewed in Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine. Chet Atkins said in his autobiography Me and My Guitars: "And I know, as the torch is passed, our beloved instrument is in good hands with players like Jerry Reed, Tommy Emmanuel, Richard Smith, Jim Nichols, and Doyle Dykes".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Dave Bendigkeit... is, above all, an expressive soloist, one who shows that rare combination of virtuosity and individualism which has always marked jazz's superior talents.  ...In today's age of post-modernism, more and more people are beginning to realize that the important question is not who is the most "progressive" or the most "out there", but rather who is saying the most in his or her chosen medium.  ...the different artistic disciplines can perhaps benefit from those in the new generation who can build from the tradition and, in the words of poet Ezra Pound, "make it new". In the world of jazz, Dave Bendigkeit is doing precisely that."  - Ted Gioia - Quartet Records

 Dave worked with: Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King, Shelly Manne, Mel Torme, George Shearing, Jack Jones, Rosemary Clooney, Lou Rawls, The Mills Brother, The Temptation, Ray Brown, Grady Tate, Smith Dobson, Broadway shows Les Miserables, Into The Woods, South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, and numerous other venues and acts. He was also active in the recording industry, releasing three albums: “Dave Bendigkeit - Looking Out”, Jazz Mind Label – 1982, “Thoughts of a Gentleman”, Quartet Label – 1987, and "Full Circle - Take One", Jazz Mind Label - 2006. As the preeminent recording trumpet player in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980’s he could be heard on commercials for Macy’s, Nike, Gap and many others, along with record albums and movie sound tracks for Walker, Todd Rundgren, Zbra, Deep Voices, among others. And then there was that martial arts thing...

    


Stella By Starlight - From Full Circle's: "Take One"

You need Windows Media Player to Listen.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx

Stella By Starlight  -  I Can’t Get Started  -  My Foolish Heart 

They Can’t Take That Away From Me  -  My Romance

(Corner of) Fifth and Vermouth  -  Straight No Chaser  -  Stardust

 

Get Full Circle's CD of "Take One"! See Below!


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 Copyright © 2010 by David Bendigkeit   All Rights Reserved