Profile
Name:
Duke
Channel Views:
32,801
Total Upload Views:
748,900
Style:
Alternative
Age:
30
Joined:
Apr 10, 2008
Latest Activity:
1 year ago
Subscribers:
888
Website:
Official YouTube cannel for Northern Irish musician Duke Special
About Me:
Duke Special's immense creative talents have seen him involved in projects as diverse as writing the theme tune for Sesame Tree (the Northern Ireland edition of Sesame Street where he also got to sing with The Muppets) to writing the music for and appearing in Deborah Warner's critically acclaimed 2009 production of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children at London's National Theatre. He then recorded an album of the twelve songs from the play, which was to form part of his ambitious project for 2010 - the release of a 3 CD box-set, The Stage, A Book & The Silver Screen. This box-set also included a 5-track EP Called Huckleberry Finn, the first ever recording of an unfinished musical written by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson based on the Mark Twain classic, and the album The Silent World of Hector Mann, featuring 12 songs based on The Book of Illusions by contemporary American author Paul Auster.
In 2011, he presented a TV documentary for RTE in Ireland on the life and times of 50s megastar Ruby Murray. This was broadcast in January, and accompanied by 2 orchestral concerts in Dublin and Cork, showcasing Duke's interpretations of Ruby's songs. He also released a charity single of recordings of 3 of Duke's favourite Ruby songs, donating all the profits to the Irish charity Depaul Ireland (www.depaulireland.org).
The next exciting and ambitious project was a show commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for their exhibition on the photographers Stieglitz, Steichen, and Strand. Duke was invited to write a series of original songs based on the inspirational photographs featured in the exhibition, which he has said is artistically one of the most exciting things he has ever done. He then performed the songs to a backdrop of the photographs, accompanied by members of the Orchestre de Chambre Miniature, a string quartet founded by violinist Olivier Manchon from Clare and the Reasons.
Duke then brought this show to life again in the autumn in Belfast, Dublin and London in a show entitled "Under The Dark Cloth". He also went into the studio with the RTE Concert Orchestra to record an album of these songs, which was released on 31st October.
The start of 2012 sees Duke going back into the studio, this time to start recording his next album, due for release in the summer, before embarking on more live dates to introduce the new songs to the world.
Duke Special is a fervent performer who harks back to a pre-rock 'n' roll era, with dashes of Gershwin and orchestral swing, all tinged with a Northern Irish lilt and poetic lyrics that could feature in a modern-day fairytale; the perfect balance of old and new - boasting the appeal of a three-minute pop song with the incessant charm of an old-school music hall.
Record Label:
Adventures In Gramophone
Label Type:
Independent
Band Members:
Duke Special
Influences:
Elliott SmithThe Magnetic FieldsDresden DollsEarly VanVaudeville Theatre78 RPMsAndy KauffmanTom WaitsRufus WainwrightAimee MannThe Divine ComedyVan Dyke ParksKurt WeillElvis CostelloBen Folds
Hometown:
Belfast
Country:
United Kingdom
Recent Activity
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DukeSpecialOfficial uploaded a new video
Duke Special performs Yvette (Song of Fraternization) from Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. Filmed in London at the medieval St. ...
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DukeSpecialOfficial uploaded a new video
Duke Special performs Song of the Hours from Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. Filmed in London at the medieval St. Olave Hart Str...
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DukeSpecialOfficial uploaded a new video
Duke Special performs Yvette (Song of Fraternization) from "Mother Courage and her Children"
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DukeSpecialOfficial uploaded a new video
The Silent World Of Hector Mann
A video by Ryan Suffern www.suckatashproductions.com |
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DukeSpecialOfficial uploaded a new video
Duke Special performs Lucky by Radiohead, live on French radio (Nous Sessions).
www.myspace.com/dukespecial http://www.last.fm/music/Duke+Special Lyri... more |
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(906)
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