In 1985, KUOW’s Marcia Alvar interviewed Norman Durkee, the longtime music director of Teatro Zinzanni, the over-the-top musical theater production held in a tent on lower Queen Anne. Durkee died on Sunday at the age of 65.
Durkee, a soft-spoken man with a long white beard, had a long career in jazz, classical and rock music, including playing the piano part on Bachman Turner Overdrive’s song, “Takin’ Care of Business.” He also did a stint making ads in Los Angeles, where his creative impulses didn’t always meet the approval of the businesses that hired him.