The Dick’s Den Wednesday Residency Program rolls into 2017 with a January program led by percussionist, educator, and publisher (and much more) Dr. Cary Dachtyl. Along with a rundown of each week’s show, Dachtyl was kind enough to provide a summary of his background, so keep reading to learn more. Each Wednesday’s show will run from 9pm to midnight, and cover is $5.
Cary Dachtyl: “I’ve been in Columbus since 1982 when I came to OSU to work on degrees in Music and Mathematics after teaching High School for 3 years in Elyria, Ohio. The first week I was in town, I sat in on vibes with Rusty Bryant, Hank Marr and Jim Rupp at the Anchor Inn. I’ve been playing in many bands and organizations ever since from Columbus Symphony, Opera Columbus and BalletMet Orchestra to tons of Blues, Jazz and Rock bands. I conducted the Welsh Hills Orchestra in Granville, Ohio for three seasons after serving as Timpanist for 10 years. I currently teach Percussion and run the Percussion Ensemble at Kenyon College, own and run a small music publishing company specializing in music for Percussion, and own and run Pterodactyl Productions, a project recording studio that I’ve had some success with over the past 10 years.
I’ve gotten to play with the Moody Blues, Yes, Mannheim Steamroller, Diana Ross, Crystal Gayle, Deana Martin, and Roger Williams as well as pretty much every orchestra in Central Ohio. Currently my wife Linda Dachtyl, who had the honor of doing a residency at Dick’s last year, and I have a B3 Jazz quartet and an organ-based R&B band playing around town. A big thrill came a couple of weeks back when Dave Workman came through town and hired Linda and me along with Joe McMullins to be his band for two sold out nights at Natalie’s. Very nice job.
Wednesday, January 4th will be Johnny Mack and the Heavyweights. John MacNamee and I have been playing together for a long time: First in the band Soul Satyr, which went to Memphis to represent Columbus in the International Blues Challenge, to working on various Blues projects and finally putting together the Heavyweights. The version playing Wednesday will have Johnny Mack on guitar and Vocals, Bruce Burton on bass and vocals, Linda Dachtyl on piano and I’ll be in the drum chair. John calls the sound ‘Blues, Soul and Acid Gospel.’
January 11th: Al Smyth and the FBnCC (Free Beer ’n Chicken Coalition). I met Al a number of years ago when I was recording a project for him. His drummer at the time had to bail on some live gigs and since I had been recording his stuff, I offered to fill in. Been with him ever since. The current lineup has Al Smyth on guitar and vocals, Columbus bassist and vocalist Cliff Starbuck, one of the original members of Ekoostik Hookah, Adam Sheets on keyboards, harp and guitar, and I’m on a bunch of drum set, yes I said a bunch of drum set. Al is a largely self taught guitarist which is totally the opposite place of where I come from. It’s also one of the reasons I love to work with Al. You never know what’s gonna happen.
January 18th: Kenyon College Faculty Jazz-tet. I teach percussion and run the percussion ensemble at Kenyon College. I have also coached some small jazz combos in the past year. Trumpeter Ted Buehrer, who teaches the Big Band at Kenyon, and Columbus bassist Matt Paetsch talked about putting a Faculty Group together. This will be our first time out with a concert following up the next week at Kenyon. In addition to Ted and Matt we will have saxophonist Ross Feller, who also teaches composition at Kenyon, and Caleb Hutslar on keyboards, Tom Davis on guitar and Ryan Hamilton on Trombone. We all teach at Kenyon.
January 25th: Jazz Quintet. I’m moving over to vibraphone. I had a jam for years at the original Buffalo Wild Wings on OSU campus in the mid 80’s. Every Thursday night, with the late Sid Omasta and several other old friends, we played everything from new arrangements to Real Book tunes. The group for this evening will be Linda Dachtyl on drums, Mark Donavan on sax, Mike McGannon on guitar and Steve Perakis on bass. Just a little fun get together. We will welcome friends that want to sit in on a tune on this evening. Bring a chart if you want to play something out of the ordinary. We all read.”