At the Nether Edge Hall, back in the 50's(almost prehistoric) there used to be a trio, led by a very good guitar player. The remaining members being a bass player and a pianist. Anybody got any memories about them?

Hi Texas,
Would Nether Edge Hall be one of the University hang outs.
I used to go to a pub on West Bar ,I am not sure of the name ,Maybe Black Bear ,or The Bull.
This was about1956-7.The group was a trad band.Most of the patrons were university students.
We were told of a concert (party )at some university function ,My buddy and I did not go but learned later that some female was inspired to get on a table and take off all her clothes.
Alas.
In those days this was something quite amazing.
Today I am rooted in Jazz from the 40s 50s & 60s.
As Dylon T would say"alas no longer whinning with us"

The best jazz guitarist around that time was Ted Needham. Never saw him at the Nether Edge hall but me and my mate used to go to the Peacock at Baslow every Monday. His pianist was Stuart Wigfield and the drummer was Len Briggs, can't remember the name of the bass player.

It was wonderful there, you could hear a pin drop while they were playing and the landlord used to ask anyone talking to leave.

God, I wish I could hear them again.

Sweetdexter,

Think the pub you mentioned was the Shakespeare which used to have trad bands on. Don't think Texas meant that one as all trad bands had a six piece (at least) lineup.

Off the thread a little but still around that time there was the Steel City Stompers playing at the Hallamshire on West St, the Imperial Jazz band at the Punchbowl on Hurlfield Rd and The Crescent at the Earl Grey, Ecclesall Rd.

extaxman,
The pub used to be on the same sid as the present Law Courts.
I am almost sure it had the name of an animal.
We also used to go a pub in the Andover ,Nottingham St area.
Cant remember the name but the band played in a small room above the pub.
Also saw Tubby Hayes & Mark Murphy in a pub on the southern outskirts of Sheffield.That name I dont remember either.This was in the early 60s

Originally posted by sweetdexter
As Dylon T would say"alas no longer whinning with us"

Would you care to explain what that means?

Frank White (see seperate threads..) does regular Jazz nights at Ruskins Bar in Tudor sqaure. Meant to be very good though I've not yet attended.

Hi mojoworking.
I think it is from 'A Childs Christmas in Wales'
The Oxford dictionary describes"Whinny, Neigh gently or joyfully."
No longer able to communicate with us. Dead

Hola extaxman, I think you're on the money with Ted Needham, did he wear glasses? They (the trio) definatly played at the Nether Edge Hall, it was a mid-week gig.
And regarding the 'stripper', I remember she was always doing it, unfortunately I was never around when she was inspired to do so. She was stacked aswell.
Who remembers the Barry Whitworth Quintet? They were very good too. They used to do a regular gig above the Black Swan on Snig Hill.

Yes, Ted Needham did wear specs, he also had a small moustache and I never saw him wear anything other than a Harris Tweed sportscoat.

Incidentally he used to own a garage at Nether Green near Fulwood.

Hello extaxman, I remember those sessions at the Hallamshire Hotel,and prior to that at a Pub on West Bar, long gone now,it was upstairs and the Steel City Stompers had a trombone player who I can remember as John, in those days the very early fifties there was some trouble when the powers that be thought this was den of iniquity!!!,drinking and listening to jazz!!!,decadence in the extreme,(how things have changed) so it was decided to move to a teetotal place,and we all turned up in force to show it was the music we were interested in, and I well remember a very serious looking well dressed man sitting at our table asking questions about the music, our backgrounds and so on,we thought later he must have been some sort of solicitor or similar looking into the matter for the,shall I say the defence,however a short time later we were told the sessions were back on again at the Hallamshire Hotel, in a pub ,selling beer,playing jazz,and we lived to tell the tale.Happy Days.

I remember the first actual live Jazz band I saw in Sheffield was at the Cambridge Street Restaurant, it was down some sort of passage, the R.A.F. had a recruiting office there. The band was the Smoky City Stompers, I think they were from Manchester.
They had a sousaphone for bass with the band's name around the bell. I was absolutely knocked out. I'd been listening to records since I was a kid, but to hear it live, well that was something else. Then there was a short lived Jazz club at the British Restaurant opposite the City Hall, they got a few bands there. I remember they got Vic Lewis to sit in on guitar with some band or other, he was at the City with his big band doing a concert. He used to do Stan Kenton stuff. Like you say Harlan, happy days.

Incidently sweetdexter, the 'strippers' name was Sylvia, and if I remember right she got in the papers with the stripping incident.

Led to believe there is something going on Jazz wise this weekend at either Hope or Castleton.

There was some great jazz around Sheffield in the sixties - here's a few reminders:

Stan Dawes band at Nether Edge Hall included Ronnie Chapman (tpt), Don Thompson (tnr), Stan Dawes (alt), Johnny Shaw (bar), Dave Howitt (pno & arranger).

Win Lee's band at the grand Hotel - Ray Hollingsworth (tpt), Bunny Harrison (tnr), Tony Oxley (dms), Len Stewart (dblbass),

I could go on...

The Steel City Stompers were formed at St Chads Youth Club in about 1950. We picked up different instruments and started to blow .National service did get in the way so therefore many budding musicians passed through the ranks of the S.C.S. to replace the one who had been called up. I could go on for ever about this topic but just one more thing. The trombonist that has been refered to was John Horton who fled to New York and became a surgeon. He also played with the Apex Jazz Band at the Hallamshire on West st

Thank you for that Sprite I hope John Horton still has happy memories of those times.I Do!!

Now found out from my mate that Ted Needham did used to play at Nether Edge Hall, just odd gigs for weddings, birthdays etc.

His bassist was called Jim Crow but he died early sixties and was replaced by various other people.

I was wrong about them playing at the Peacock in Baslow - it was at the Wheatsheaf in Baslow.

There used to be regular jazz nights at the White Lion on Heeley Bottom.

The pub was always packed. Was it a Tuesday evening? I can't remember.

And for a while there was one at George V, opposite the Kelvin flats.

I only have fond memories of jazz night in those two places.

Hi drainpipe,
Would the sax player Don thompson have emigrated to Canada?
There is a Don Thompson over here in the cold white north(Presently 34 and humid) who is quite a success

Hello Texas.I too remember the Smokey City Stompers. They did come from Manchester. They had a band within a band and called thenselves Upper Tars alley Washboard Creepers.
Recalling the cafe in Barkers Pool. I remember seeing many bands there. Bands that I remember. Mick Mulligans Magnolia Jazz Band & George Melly, The Crane River Jazz Band,Reg Rigedens Barefoot J/Band,but I think the greatest of them all was Freddy Randel and his band

Hey Sprite, do you remember the record sessions too? Somebody would hire a room, above a pub say, and bring along a collection of records. They'd get played and then get discussed. (Nearly a pun there). A guy named Barry or Baz held one of these sessions at a Gilmours pub on West Street, opposite Andrews, the schoolbook store. Then there was another one held in the cellar of a Solicitors opposite Eadon, Lockwood and Riddle, the auctioneers. Very educational at the time. This would be 1950 or so.
Freddy Randall band, great! It was definatly one of the best 'Chicago' style bands in England at the time.

P.S. Does'nt anybody remember the Barry Whitworth Quintet?

Hello Texas
I remember Barrie Whitworth,but he did'nt play our typy of musicg
With regards to Freddie Randall. During the 50s the S.C.S.became good friends of Fred, in fact he made it possible for us to play relief band at the Locarno in London Rd way back when . The last time we saw him was at the Esquire when he made a come back . I can't remember when it was but he said that he had got fed up with the nursing home that he owned in Brighton and he had decieded to start another band . He died about two years ago.

I just want to confirm that the Bird still lLives on in Sheffield.


Happy Days!

Hola sprite, I didn't follow Freddy Randall's career all that closely but the last time I heard of him he was still working in the early 70's. I dont think he gets his due as regards being a major figure in British Jazz, generally I mean, not among the aficionados. My top three ( British players) in the more traditional approach to Jazz trumpet would be Alex Welsh, Freddy Randall, and Kenny Ball.
And to you PopT, I certainly hope so, he does in my head I can tell you.

The Lescar Hotel (pub) has jazz night every Wednesday in the back room. It's usually very good. - Sharrow Vale Road, Nether Edge £2 in.

Who remembers Humphrey Lyttlton?
I remeber seeing him and Sidney Bechet marching around the stage at the City Hall.
I believe his clarinet player was Wlly Fawkes a.k.aTrogs a cartoonist.
Also popular at this time was Chris Barber

Hola sweetdexter, I think everybody knows of Humph, I personally remember the concert with Sydney Bechet, he was tremendous, which was only normal for him. The older I get the more I realise we were fortunate to be able to see and hear musicians of the calibre of people like Sydney Bechet, he was certainly a true great. When you look back on the list of jazz musicians who appeared at the City Hall, wow, it's almost endless. Does anyone remember when Nat Cole appeared there? His regular trio at the time was augmented by the addition of Lee Young, Lester's brother, on drums. The City was packed!

Never took to Humphrey Lytellton but I really enjoyed the Chris Barber concerts. Best of all for me though from those trad concerts was when Acker Bilk was supporting band to Kid Ory's band.
Acker and his lads got a storming reception and were the star attraction for me. Kid Ory seemed to be a bit of an anticlimax after that.

Later on, I enjoyed the Dave Brubeck Quartet with the immortal Paul Desmond. Also, the Count Basie band.

One of my regrets is that I never went to see Ted Heath's band on the many occasions they played in Sheffield.

Anybody remember the time when the Basil Kirchin band played for dancing downstairs at the City? The thing was, he had a talent spot and apart from the usual suspects this girl got on stage and did 'It's Only a Paper Moon', she was bloody brilliant, I'll never forget that one. Small chick with glasses, anybody remember her? Barry Whitworth borrowed a horn and did 'Dont Mean a Thing if it ain't got that Swing', and some guy did a Danny Kaye impression. It was a good night. Nobody danced, just gathered round the stand and listened.

I saw Ted Heath a few times.
I remember one number ,was it the R,J Boogie?
Ronnie Verel and Johny Hawksworth ,Drums and bass tour -de-force for those two guys.
Didn't his lead trombone come from Stocksbridge or Oughtibridge,Don Lusher seems to ring a bell.
As popT would say "happy days"

I still have the programe for the Bechet concert at the City Hall along with the one for the Jack Teagarden Earl Hines All Stars And the Louis Armstrong All Stars. One of the bands that I liked was Harry Gold & his Pieces of Eight. When I was stationed at R.A.F. Conningsby . Harry Gold was the first thing we heard in the morning. That was the station radio net works signature tune.

Sweetdexter,I think you will find Don Lusher came from Peterborough,and "learned his trade" with the local Salvation Army Band,the last I heard Johnny Hawksworth was in Australia, composing background music,TV themes,one was for the George and Mildred series one, and of course Ronnie Verrell has died,probably you are thinking of the Sheffield connection with Johnny Hawksworth who I think came from Totley

I know of a certain, very keen Jazz trumpet player in Sheffield who joined the Salvation to learn to read music. And another Jazzbro' who was listening intently to a Salvation Army small group in Sheffield, playing Carols one Christmas, he was taken by the way the Cornet player played something. When the band took a break, he sidled up to the Cornet player and said 'Hey,that were good, does tha' play Bop in thi' spare time?

Sprite.When did Louis A, come to Sheffield?
I remember standing in line at Wilson & Peck's before it was opening time to get tickets for Louis .
This would be in 56 I think,.
Anyway the concert was cancelled so I never got to see him.
I was not in the country 58-61 then 66 onward maybe he came in this time period.

blimey

interesting stuff

i like a bit of jazz, unfortunately im too young for all that, my era was mid 80s punk gigs :P

Hey sprite, Those two programmes you have are worth keeping. I saw the Jack Teagarden / Earl Hines concert back then, am I right in thinking the trumpet player with the All-Stars was Max Kaminsky, and the clarinet player 'Peanuts' Hucko? I swear I saw the great Eddie Condon at the City too, somtime or other.
I never did get to see Louis Armstrong, but didn't he play a Working Mens Club somewhere near Leeds? I'll bet somebody somewhere has all the programmes of all the Jazz concerts at the City.

One of Ted Heath's alto Sax players was from Sheffield, I went to school with his so Carl Davis.

Wasn't the trombone player Donald Langhorne who formed his own group playing rock and roll under the name of Don Lang?


Happy Days indeed!

Hi texas i never saw the Barry Whitworth's band but i do know my dad was the drummer, Peter Jackson. They aslo played in the Brecon Hotel in rotherham and my dad backed artists like Roy Castle, Will Gaines and Sandy Powell. He also played with the Black Damonds and the Savoy Quintet. a guy called Nev Reaney also played with Barry Whitworth.

Hey mozo, remember your Dad very well. He was a good musician, probably brilliant, I dont know the technicalities of drums but he could swing. If you've heard of Phil Seaman, well he held Pete in high regard. Phil reckoned the only thing wrong with Pete was that he worried too much, what the significance of that is, I'm not sure, but anything coming from Phil Seaman has got to be profound. I know that Pete was with Barry from day one, and so was Nev come to that. Pete and Barry were in the Pitsmoor Scouts at the same time, guess what instruments they played! Him and me used to have some ridiculous discussions about music sometimes. I heard he'd passed on a few years ago, a very sad loss.

Hi PopT, the man you are thinking of was Gordon Langhorne who was lead trombonist with the Vic Lewis powerhouse band which played the way out Stan Kenton stuff,I have no record of him ever playing with Ted Heath,but you are are quite right he did form a group under the name of Don Lang.The alto sax player was probably Leslie Gilbert who did come from Sheffield.
Earlier there were comments about Humphrey Lyttleton and Ted Heath, there is a connection there because Keith Christie who played trombone with Humph left to join, and become a stalwart of the Heath section for some years, obviously the money was better.Keiths brother Ian played clarinet with Humph too.
Talking of Ted Heath sidemen does anyone remember the late and great trumpeter Bobby Pratt?

Hi texas, nice to hear from some one who knew pete. Something tells me my dad had a high regard for phil too, I was named after him!! And talking of great drummers check out Dave Weckl, he's nearly as good as pete!!

Yes Texas you did see Eddie Condon.
I always remember his cure for a cold"You take the juice from a quart of whisky..........".
I think in the same band it was Billie Butterfield on cornet.
It is so long ago and very hazy.
Was that the Jack Teagarden concert that had ,Condon Kaminsky/Butterfield.Maybe someone has a program for that and could look it up

Thanks Harlan for putting me straight about Langhorne and Les Gilbert, I did get both names wrong.

It does seem such a long, long time ago.

I remember Phil Seaman playing a piece of his own called 'Able Seaman Phil' and it was brilliant although he was on drugs at the time which didn't seem to affect his skill on the drums.

He later went on to teach Ginger Baker the renowned Flim Flam expert and horse breeder as well as playing in the Cream group.

Happy Days indeed

Hey mozo, did you ever know of Alec, Alec Wyatt, the piano player with the Barry Whitworth Quintet/Savoy Quintet? He was a character. He used to have this little notebook with all the chord changes propped up on the front of the piano, it annoyed the crap out of Barry, very uncool. Last time I saw him he was trying to wangle some way to see Tubby Hayes without paying, the gig was in a pub near Bournmouth, and he was contemplating climbing through the toilet window!
And sweetdexter, please dont tell me I've seen Billy Butterfield and dont remember it, Al Zeimer must be knocking on my door.

popT, did you ever see Ginger Baker with the Graham Bond Organisation, brilliant! He had a Chinese Cymbal on his kit hanging vertical, the sound was terrific.

Hi Texas,Like i say it is all hazy.I know at one of the concerts 'I Can't Get Started'. was played, I remember this was one of Billie Butterfields masterpieces,.Maybe I am just imagining it. the grey matter is diminishing at a rapid rate.

Do any of you remeber a time when American big bands couldn't play in UK cos the Musicians union didn't like it. A bunch of us got on a boat to Dublin to see Stan Kenton. Sheffield had a very big trad club in those days but we were all modern jazz fans.
One night downstairs at the City Hall we were enjoying Kathy Stobart's group. She was a brilliant tenor sax, which was unusual for a girl in those days, when an official came down from the concert hall to complain that the jazz was interfering with the symphony going on upstairs. How he escaped with his life I'll never know. I went to Ronnie Scotts in London, which I believe is still going. By the way I think Diana Krall is great. Wish I could get tickets but they're always sold out.

ooh yes i know alec meet him a couple of time tried to get freebies from me at work, is he still around?. another guy i remember is bob cant remember his second name, used to run mr kites in town for a while, also had a second hand shop on the corner of crooksmoor rd, he had stacks of old jazz recordings taken from american radio stations in the fifties!!!

I could't say if Alec is still around mozo, the 'toilet window' incident was nearly 40 years ago, and I was long gone from Sheffield before that. I hope he is though, still counting his money. I did hear that Nev Reaney was still playing, not much different from the late 50's, but playing none the less. Probably the same reed!
I thought of an incident involving Pete that made me smile. He used to have this beat up old van, and it hadn't any windshield washers, so he kept a plastic squigee bottle full of water so he could lean out the window and squirt water on the windshield and then operate the wipers. Quite a complicated process doing about 40mph down Barber Road. I was in the passenger seat when he decided he couldn't see clearly. I thought he was leaving.

I saw Stan Kenton at the City Hall.
We were in the cheap seats behind the stage,first row right behind the french horn players(can't remember if there were one or two).
It was still an enjoyable experience.
Does anyone remember seeing George Lewis?

Hello all you jazzers.
Here are a few bits of info. I saw Louis at the Earls Court Hall in London in 1956. He had Edmund Hall on clarinet with Barrett Deems on drums. The next time I saw Louis Was in Sheffield in 1959. This time he had Peanuts Hucko on clarinet and Danny Barcelona od drums. The last time I saw him was at Batley Variety Club. I think that was late 60s. I am not very sure about the line up But I seem to remember Tyree Glen on trombone.Joe Darrensberg on clarinet and I think it was somebody Napoleon on the piano. I will try to dig up some more to tell next time.

Hello Sprite,thanks for those memories!and I remember Trummy Young on trombone and bassist Arvell Shaw, and Louis's mountain of clean handerkerchiefs in the top of the grand piano,using one after every number, and the lip salve.Mention has been of Sydney Bechet, and his visit to the City Hall, his playing knocked us out, and George Webb was sat in front of us going crazy with Bechets wonderful playing,swing?did'nt he just.On a more sombre note I saw one of Sydney Bechets final public concerts in Brussels in 1958, he died some months later a true Giant of Jazz

Reading your post buck, of the 21st, regarding the Stan Kenton trip to Dublin, made me wonder if there's anybody else around who made that journey. I didn't go I must admit, I think I'd only just got out of the military or something. What year was it exactly? I remember some guy telling me all about it, and I'm like 'Wha','Wha', really green with envy. I did get to the City Hall concert though, a few years later. I was sitting behind the stage for that one, right behind the 'Man' himself. I remember Mel Lewis leaning over to Curtis Counce the bass player and saying something like'Whaddya wan' it in, big red balls? Presumably he was talking about the score and Mr Counce misreading something.
It was Marty Napoleon on piano,sprite. He was with Louis Armstrong around that time.

In this topic mention has been made of that great drummer Basil Kirchin,you will be sad to learn Basil died on the 19th of June after a long illness.

Hi Texas Nice to hear these stories, sounds about right for Pete!
unfortunately only got to meet dad again for a few years before he died, so we had a lot to catch up on and sadly not enough time.
mozo

1)re Nev Reaney - heard recently that he'd had a heart attack.

2) re Alex Wyatt - for many years he fronted the Jazz Preservation Society band at the Norfolk Arms Ringinglow on Friday nights. Last I heard of him was that he was very ill.

Ralph Salt - remember him? - he still plays a t the Chequers Whiston on Wednesday nights.

Hello jazzers,
Regarding Eddie Condons band .Wild Bill Davison cornet, Bob Wilber Clarinet,Cutty Cutshall Trombone,Dick Cary Piano, Jack Lesberg bass . Wild Bill also played with Mick Shaw in Sheffield, as did Billy Butterfield.I also remember the Steel City Stompers booking Alex Welsh and his band to play at the Albert Hotel in Barkers Pool for the sum of £40.

,Lawd a' mercy drainpipe, ain't you got any good news? Ralph Salt, the name dont ring any bells. Who he?
And sprite,SPRITE, you are doing my head in, are you saying that the Condon Mob you mention, played the City Hall? When was that?
I got a story that Ray Hollingsworth told me regarding Wild Bill, he was hanging out with him in New York for a couple of days when he was working the ships from Southampton. They left this club where Wild Bill was working, and, well ******, they went back to Bills apartment (with a couple of chicas). When the cab drew up outside the building, Bill fell out of the cab, accidentaly falling onto his trumpet (which was in a paper bag), and doing it a lot of damage. They got up to the apartment eventually, Bill got on the 'phone, to the company who made the horn, and within the the hour, they'd delivered a brand new instrument! Now that's what I call service!

hi Texas - Ralph Salt's been around for about 40 years - he's into Miles Davis and Bill Evans sort of stuff. He used to be a perpetrator of middle nines and 13 bar blues but he seems to have lost that now.Royston Davies plays bass with him.

Thanks sprite for the info.
I was completly wrong with the Condon Band .
I dont know were I got Kaminsky,Butterfield from.
I wish I could revisit that time again, knowing what I know now.I was a 16 year old who knew b***er all.

A very interesting thread guys. I don't think anyone has mentioned the Back O'Town Syncopators who I believe played trad at Nether Edge Hall amongst others circa 1963/4. This also brings to mind the dance that the hippy types indulged in - was it the Skip Jive - a slow, high stepping dance.
Did anyone ever lodge at Mrs Carnell's place on Broomgrove Road (opposite the 'naughty girls' home). The low point of the week was the weekly serving of Fred's stew - a disgusting concoction . Fred, the "chef", was frequently seen well oiled in the Porter Lodge down Sharrow Vale.

And what of Barry Whitworth? All the rest of his compadres have been mentioned. Does he still play anywhere? The last time I heard him he was following the trend and going into a free form bag. Not really him I thought, strictly a 'bopper' was Barry. He had a great sound, bit like'Fats' Navarro. Anybody remember when the Savoy Quintet played a season at the Flamingo, I think it was, in London. They won a 'Melody Maker' competition.

Hello Texas
Yes ,the Condon mob played the City Hall back in the late 50s I think..
I also saw a modern Condon band at the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield about 10 years ago.Kenny Davern was on clarinet .
Does anybody remember Jazz at the Phill coming to Sheffield sometime in the 60s? Another little bit of info for all you jazzers. Bob Wilber of The Worlds Greatest Jazz Band fame . Married a local girl from Sheffield called Joanne who had been around the local jazz scene for some time and knew more about jazz than a lot of the so called experts . She also sang at Condons club I understand

Hi Texas
Sadly I.ve heard that Barry is suffering from Parkinsons Disease.

Mozo, that is really sad news about Barry, It's hard to know what to say. I can only remember him as a guy who had it all together, a good musician. Some people found him a bit remote, and inward looking, but he was always O.K. with me.

Hey sprite, I remember JATP playing the City Hall. I've got to admit though I'm having trouble remembering who was on the show. I remember Dizzy, Oscar Peterson, and thats about it. I know there's got to be another trumpet player and two tenor players at least. My top three favorit shows there were the Kenton band, Carmen McRea, and Nat Cole, but then again, there were so many.

I saw Stan Kenton at the City Hall.
We were in the cheap seats behind the stage,first row right behind the french horn players(can't remember if there were one or two).
It was still an enjoyable experience.
Does anyone remember seeing George Lewis?

Yes, I remember seeing George Lewis, he toured with Colyer. After the concert we (The Gloryland) spirited him away to a party before putting him on a train at Midland Station. We played a few numbers on the platform.

We did a similar thing for Big Bill Broonzy but he was a bit of a handful as all he was interested in at his party was chicks, as he put it.

There used to be a jazz band playing upstairs at The Albert pub, Barkers Pool in the early 60's. Name of the band was "The Alakeefic Jazz Band". I asked one of the musicians where they got the strange name from and he said that some of them had done their National Service in the Middle East and Alakeefic meant "couldn't care less" in Arabic. I thought they were quite good at the time.

I vaguely remember it although, by that time I had ceased to live in Sheffield and only went home about once a month. I can't remember who played in the band though. Any ideas?

Yes, I remember seeing George Lewis, he toured with Colyer. After the concert we (The Gloryland) spirited him away to a party before putting him on a train at Midland Station. We played a few numbers on the platform.

We did a similar thing for Big Bill Broonzy but he was a bit of a handful as all he was interested in at his party was chicks, as he put it.

It's nice to see this thread revived.
I remember the B B Broonzy concert I think he was three sheets to the wind when he was on stage.
But a very memorable experience.
I feel rather smug at times when i talk to present day Jazz Fans and casually drop the fact I have seen i.e.Sydney Bechet,George Lewis.Jack Teagarden etc.
Does anyone remember a concert with Sara Vaughn and a trio or Quartet.
During the concert the lights went out and a male member of the group sang a couple of chores and when the lights came back on we had no idea who it was.The voice was a cross between Joe Williams and N K Cole.
I often wonder if it was Oscar Peterson on the piano he has a great singing voice.
On the subject of Oscar .In 2005 here in Canada a stamp was issued with him on it I think to commemorate his 80 th birthday
A rare tribute

Yeah good thread,
I remember the City Hall concerts, being a schoolboy I could only afford the platform ( seats behind the performers) most times.
I remember seeing Big Bill Broonzy - excellent. Eddie Condon Who appeared with Humph - rubbish, the audience cheered when Humph came back on. Sister Rosetta Tharp, Chris Barber, Ken Collier ( think Nancy Whisky & Chas mcDevitt - Freight Train) were with them. Dutch Swing College Band. Sidney Betchet. Kid Ory. Humph several times. Plus others.
Those were the days, pay two bob and see the acts a few feet away. Not like the arena, pay £20, and see a speck.
I've got some old ticket stubs somewhere and the odd old program, I'll look them out and post the details this week. + some Jazz club membership cards

I well remember the Arabic for 'could't care less', allakific. Not so sure of the spelling though. Never did see that band.
Anybody remember Kenny Napper, the bass player, he was married to a Sheffield girl, dancer I think. He was the bassist of choice for a number of visiting American acts when they came to England. I know he worked with Carmen McRea at Ronnie Scotts. He would sit in with Barry Whitworth's group occasionaly, saw him at the Black Swan once.

Years ago I went to see Count Basie and his band at the Cinema House which stood where the Mothercare shop is now on Barkers Pool.

The band was amazing, Basie just nodded his head and the band started to swing like some well oiled powerful engine.

I could have listened to that band all night.

They played numbers from his Canadian Suite which really went down well with the audience.

I forget which year but I probably still have the programme somewhere as I never threw any of the jazz concert programmes away.

Happy Days!

Texas: could the jatp City Hall concert have included Coleman Hawkins, along with Diz, Oscar and other top artists? I was there.

As for Ted Heath I saw him there - the band, Dickie Valentine, Dennis Lotis and Lita Rosa (who put a lipstick impression on my white shirt and although I warned my Mum never to wash it - she did, the day after).
I also went with my dad to see Stan Kenton there whose band, in spite of not having the top names we expected ( all forming their own bands then)
absolutely blew my brain.
Did you know that Maynard Ferguson (who could hit notes that only dogs could hear, almost) lived in Sheffield for a while, some years, I believe.
Oscar Peterson made many recordings of 'Tenderly' but one, recorded at a concert, stands out from the rest. Do you know the one I mean?
What a cracking thread! Thanks to ALL for the memories.

In the 1950's I used to go to a Youth Club at St Christophers Church on Bellhouse Road some of the older lads there used to play a lot of Trad Jazz records..I didn't like that kind of music...untill one night I heard a record that was different, everyone was standing around the record player snapping their fingers and singing out the words..I asked what it was..and was told it was the Chris Barber Skiffle Group and the song was Rock Island Line...Skiffle was the the music for me...later I was to form my own Skiffle Group and my music career had begun...Still don't like Trad Jazz tho.

I seem to remember there was a Sheffield jazz club in the fifties that was considered the biggest in UK. It was trad, while most of my cohorts and I were modern jazz fans. We were called boppers, dressed in drapejackets, peg top pants and crepe soled shoes. We used to bus out to the Astoria in Nottingham on Sunday nights, when everything in Sheffield was shut down. Used to smoke king sized Pall Malls form the American airmen at the USAF base nearby.

The other trumpet player at the City Hall JATP concert was Roy Eldridge, and yes, Coleman Hawkins was there too. Who was the other tenor? Amazing how the memory goes, it wasn't Stan Getz was it?
I consider myself privileged to have seen musicians of that stature. One thing for sure, you're not going to see their like again.
And Buck, you and me must've been on the same 'bus. I went on a couple of visits to the Astoria in Nottingham. Apart from everything else you could jive there. The 'everything else' was coming back on the coach and shouldn't have been allowed.

The other trumpet player at the City Hall JATP concert was Roy Eldridge, and yes, Coleman Hawkins was there too. Who was the other tenor? Amazing how the memory goes, it wasn't Stan Getz was it?
I consider myself privileged to have seen musicians of that stature. One thing for sure, you're not going to see their like again.
And Buck, you and me must've been on the same 'bus. I went on a couple of visits to the Astoria in Nottingham. Apart from everything else you could jive there. The 'everything else' was coming back on the coach and shouldn't have been allowed.The Astoria was fantastic, and the girls gorgeous. I was and still am a big fan of Stan Getz and have just about everything he ever did. I missed JATP because the navy had other plans for me. I got lucky for a while and was stationed near Warrington Lancs for about a year. That gave me almost every weekend at home.Great music, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Coltrane. What talent!!

Thanks for all the memories which brought back many of mine of the wonderful jazz musicians we were privileged to to see, and of course hear.
A little story about the Basie Band,(the greatest big band I ever saw,and I saw a few)when they played their first UK tour the band parts did not arrive in this country so they played the whole"book" throughout the tour from memory!
Another everlasting memory was of a concert given by the wonderful Carmen Macrae, and during the programme announcing the next number she said"now I'd like to"--and as quick as a flash a male voice from the audience shouted"Yes I'd like to an'all!!"the audience erupted in laughter, and Carmen Macrae just stood there helpless with laughter, and applauded her anonymous admirer,and for those of you who did not know Carman Macrae, she was a very beautiful and curvacious negress.
Can anyone remember Ella Fitzgerald having trouble with the spotlight on her?and ad-libbing words asking to to turn it off to the tune she was singing.
The great Ted Heath and all the wonderful sidemen he had over the years, and another great favourite of mine,and still is, Stephan Grappelli,could that man swing?blew your mind.Some years ago he played a concert at the Crucible, and my fellow jazz mate could not go, so my Wife, who is not the least bit interested in jazz said she would go and keep me company, and sat there absolutely enthralled the whole concert.
So please,please keep those memories coming, I am sure there are many more, I have thousands.

There was a time in the early fifties when the Musicians Union banned American bands from playing in the UK. We had to take a trip to Dublin to see Stan Kenton, and many bands played there. Over here I've been priveleged to see Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth in concert with Mel Torme, and also Mel Torme with George Shearing. I should have seen Sarah Vaughn in Hartford Connecticut but she failed to show because she was drunk. She died not long after. I saw Sinatra in Montreal and just recently the incredible Tony Bennet at the University of Connecticut. I don't like a lot of contempory Jazz, although I'm a big fan of Diana Krall and Dianne Reeve, and can take some Marsalis, but not all.

Does anybody remember Vic Lewis and his band? they did everything Stan Kenton did, though not as good. I was seventeen and took a girl from work to his concert at the City Hall. Afterwards she insisted on trying to talk to the sidemen after the concert. They cottoned on to her cos she was kind of gorgeous, so we were invited to join them for supper at I think the Norton Arms. They were a great bunch of guys.

Yes I remember the Vic Lewis Band, a real powerhouse unit, as you say styled in the Stan Kenton idiom,and among the line-up were such stalwarts as Jimmy Skidmore t/sax,Kathy Stobart t/sax,Bert Courtley tpt,Johnny Shakespeare tpt,Ronnie Chamberlain a/sax(lured away by Ted Heath), and a talented arranger Ken Thorne,when I was doing my National Service 1948 time we saw the Oscar Rabin band at a concert in Bath, and he had a woncerful trumpet player called Bobby Benstead, and I think he played in a Vic Lewis band at some time, I remember that concert very well as there were no trains back to camp so me and a mate had to walk,about four miles!.
The Vic Lewis band suffered from the problem of all big bands,finance.
Another great band which came and went was the wonderful Tommy Sampson band from Scotland, with Henry Mackenzie,Duncan Campbell,I only saw them once,I think Ron Simmonds was in the trumpet section for a time.

Thanks for all the memories which brought back many of mine of the wonderful jazz musicians we were privileged to to see, and of course hear.
A little story about the Basie Band,(the greatest big band I ever saw,and I saw a few)when they played their first UK tour the band parts did not arrive in this country so they played the whole"book" throughout the tour from memory!
Another everlasting memory was of a concert given by the wonderful Carmen Macrae, and during the programme announcing the next number she said"now I'd like to"--and as quick as a flash a male voice from the audience shouted"Yes I'd like to an'all!!"the audience erupted in laughter, and Carmen Macrae just stood there helpless with laughter, and applauded her anonymous admirer,and for those of you who did not know Carman Macrae, she was a very beautiful and curvacious negress.
Can anyone remember Ella Fitzgerald having trouble with the spotlight on her?and ad-libbing words asking to to turn it off to the tune she was singing.
The great Ted Heath and all the wonderful sidemen he had over the years, and another great favourite of mine,and still is, Stephan Grappelli,could that man swing?blew your mind.Some years ago he played a concert at the Crucible, and my fellow jazz mate could not go, so my Wife, who is not the least bit interested in jazz said she would go and keep me company, and sat there absolutely enthralled the whole concert.
So please,please keep those memories coming, I am sure there are many more, I have thousands.

I wish I could have gotten to see Carmen live.
I have a VHS tape of her at the Montreal Jazz Festival, doing a lot of Monk tunes.
Still my favourite female vocalist

Tommy Sampson, a legend among aficianados (or a leg end, depending on your sense of humor). Half of Tommy Sampson's band was nicked by Ted Heath, or so I've been led to believe.
How about the Ray Ellington group? It seemed that every concert at the City, featuring the more traditional sort of jazz, the support band was Ray Ellington, keeping up the end for bebop.
I'm no purist at all, I love all kinds of the music, and I loved his act. For sheer entertainment he was hard to beat. The musicians in his band, Dick Katz, Coleridge Goode, I forget the guitarist's name, all top class. I believe that Coleridge Goode pioneered the amplification of the bass back in the 40's and I think he's still around.
I remember one time, me and a mate got talking to Ray Ellington in the corridor backstage, he was very approachable. Could've been though because he was interested in my mates sister.
I didn't like the tension on his bass drum though. Actually, I nearly told him that, but he was a hell of a lot bigger than I was.

Do you remember Jimmy Rushing appearing at the City Hall, he was in good form.

Over here in NZ I was fortunate to buy a cd of him singing with the Dave Brubeck outfit and it is a great listen.

Can you remember the Dave Brubeck outfit with the incredible Paul Desmond on Alto.

Please keep this post going,it's so nostalgic of a time when you could really hear some innovative music played by such talented musicians.

Happy Days!

Would the guitarist with Ray Ellinton be Judd Proctor?
Another band which knocked me over was Buddy Rich,a wonderful drummer but they tell me horrible man,his version of "Love For Sale"is among my all time top ten.
I remember one time we saw him he would lay down the tempo, and play his drums for about sixteen bars, the call out the chart number giving the sidemen about thirty seconds to find it, the count them in 2-3-4,and every number the band had to furiously delve through the book to find their respective parts.
One of the Ted Heath "Greats" was lead trumpeter Bobby Pratt, remember those beautiful duets with Bert Ezzard? Bobby's widow Tina now lives in Australia with her family,and was over in the UK a few weeks ago, and stayed with my Wife and I for a few days, and we had a wonderful time talking about Bobby's life,and tragic death, and she presented us with a wonderful collection of photographs of Bobby from his early days as a professional musician in his teens, with the Squadronaires,Ken Mackintosh to the great days with Ted Heath.

I went to a dance in Bognor Regis dancing to the Ray Ellington quartet. He was famous from being on the goon show. The band singer was a very young Cleo Laine. You could get right close up to them, and Cleo was very friendly and easy to get on with. Not bad on the eyes either. There is some good jazz still around NYC from small pubs and cafes. New Yorker magazine has a good list of who's who and where. So does the times.

I went to a dance in Bognor Regis dancing to the Ray Ellington quartet. He was famous from being on the goon show. The band singer was a very young Cleo Laine. You could get right close up to them, and Cleo was very friendly and easy to get on with. Not bad on the eyes either. There is some good jazz still around NYC from small pubs and cafes. New Yorker magazine has a good list of who's who and where. So does the times.

Talking about Cleo close up.
I saw her hubby in a coffee bar somewhere around West Bar, seems to me downstairs .No booze ,paid admission (I think).
Dankworth had a Quintet. It was like a concert in your average living room.
They must have been playing for peanuts

I have a B&W poster above my computer 36" x26" 'Art Kane Jazz Portrait' Harlem 1958.
57 Jazz musicians who where in NY on that day..
Wish I had a time machine

Sweetdexter

An old pal gave me a copy of that poster and it is fascinating how many all time greats are on it.

It's a real treasure.

Happy Days!

That would be 'A Great Day in Harlem' wouldn't it Dex? The photographer was Art Kane.
I remembered the guitar player's name with Ray Ellington, it was Laurie Deniz. He remained with the group longest, but there was another guy before that. Didn't the knock out Marion Ryan sing with Ray Ellington for a while too?

In the Sixties I remember a Sheffield Jazz band called The Lennie Denitz Quartet ..or something like that...The Drummer was the young Earl of Wharncliffe ..can anyone give me more info? co's I need it for another thread.

Johnnie Lennitz I think.

Johnnie Lennitz I think.Yes that sounds about right....I never saw them but they used to get a writeup
in the Star now and again.

Would the guitarist with Ray Ellinton be Judd Proctor?
Another band which knocked me over was Buddy Rich,a wonderful drummer but they tell me horrible man,his version of "Love For Sale"is among my all time top ten.
I remember one time we saw him he would lay down the tempo, and play his drums for about sixteen bars, the call out the chart number giving the sidemen about thirty seconds to find it, the count them in 2-3-4,and every number the band had to furiously delve through the book to find their respective parts.
One of the Ted Heath "Greats" was lead trumpeter Bobby Pratt, remember those beautiful duets with Bert Ezzard? Bobby's widow Tina now lives in Australia with her family,and was over in the UK a few weeks ago, and stayed with my Wife and I for a few days, and we had a wonderful time talking about Bobby's life,and tragic death, and she presented us with a wonderful collection of photographs of Bobby from his early days as a professional musician in his teens, with the Squadronaires,Ken Mackintosh to the great days with Ted Heath.
Been some great stories about Buddy Rich over the years, somebody should collect 'em. My favorit is the one where he got into some kind of altercation with Dusty Springfield. Apparently she complained about his playing too loud, and made some kind of remark of a personal nature. Naturally Buddy had to be restrained from giving her a smack. Afterwards he sent a note of apology and a present. A shoebox of broken glass.
Oscar Peterson said he should've been kept in a cage and only let out for gigs.

Been some great stories about Buddy Rich over the years, somebody should collect 'em. My favorit is the one where he got into some kind of altercation with Dusty Springfield. Apparently she complained about his playing too loud, and made some kind of remark of a personal nature. Naturally Buddy had to be restrained from giving her a smack. Afterwards he sent a note of apology and a present. A shoebox of broken glass.
The story I heard was inside the box along with the broken glass was a note from the band which read "This can only improve your voice"

Another story regarding Buddy Rich was when he was about to have an operation,the Nurse asked if he had any allergies,he replied"yes country music"

Actually Harlan, I've used that one myself. And It's on my medical records. They dont half make you laugh, dont they?
I read somewhere that when Buddy Rich's father was taken into hospital one time, he was being wheeled down a corridor, and a nurse with a clip board asked him what he was in for, he answered 'Burglary'.

A great read is "Jazz Anecdotes" by Bill Crow,who is listed as a freelance musician and writer.
Wasn't there a Bill Crow who played bass.?I seem to remember him playing for Brubeck

Some years ago there was a concert at the City Hall, and it had quite a line up,do I remember Lou Rawls,Nancy Wilson?but who I do remember was a band of Benny Goodman alumni,Billy Butterfield,Peter Appleyard on vibraphone the wonderful Hank Jones(brother of Thad) on piano, and the even more wonderful Urbie Green on trombone, and the Goodman parts were played by a classical clarienettist, Jack Brymer, and the story was he was long time admirerer of Benny Goodman and wanted to play a show of his music, and this was the show.
If my ageing memory serves me well the great Teddy Wilson was on the same bill,but he played a solo spot,and the local newspapers in a review said he was taken to the edge of the stage in a wheelchair by his son,his legs may have gone but the magic of his playing definitely had not.
Talking of anecdotes,trumpeters always used to say when Billy Butterfield sold a trumpet the high and low register were unused!!!

I worked in Sheffield (Hadfields/TWW) in the mid-50's and thought Sheffield was the real business for Music at that time. I was just into modern jazz and have so many fond memories of concerts at the city Hall with the big bands of Kenton, Herman, Basie etc. and of course the great Brit bands such as Heath, Lewis, Dankworth. In between the City Hall concerts I immersed myself in visits to a Jazz Club (think on West St) where Barry Whitworth played, great group, sad to read somewhere that he is now not well.

Mozo (Pete Jackson's lad) said a while back on this topic that Barry wasn't in too good a shape. I agree, a great shame. I went myself to a lot of his gigs back in the 50's, he had a good sound, very full.

Anyone remember "Barry Lee" he worked on the trams and then became a taxi driver
He was an avid jazz fan with a large record collection he lived on City Road in the 60s
he died young of big C. He came to record sessions at various homes in the City, which
is how I met him. Is anyone around that also went to the sessions.
One of the homes, which hosted jazz record sessions, was that of the elderley chap
who helped Violet May in her shop, Alf ?maybe. Like to hear anything.

I think I know who you mean, I knew him as 'Baz' when he was on the taxis. He ran an occasional record session above a pub in West St, opposite the Lion, back of the City Hall.
He had some mates who's names I cant remember, but one of them played for Wednesday, possibly Graham Ellis, it's a long time ago now. Did he ever play? I seem to remember going to his place for a trumpet tutor, the Arban book, I know I didn't buy it.
That's certainly a blast from the past.

Hi Texas, Great to hear from someone who knew Baz, You are dead right about the pub
at the back of the City Hall. I recall someone bringing a Shorty Rogers Lp "Cool and Crazy" it had just come out. I met Baz first of all on the Crookes tram, he struck up
a conversation with me when he saw I was carrying a Gerry Mulligan Quartet 78,
Walkin Shoes, I think. He told me about the record sessions and thats how I went
along. When Baz passed away his collection was sold to people who went to the
sessions. I still have " Jazz Studio One" with Barry Lee written in biro on one
corner. I have masses of records and CDs try me if you are stuck for anything
I'll duplicate gratis for a fan like you.

That would be 'A Great Day in Harlem' wouldn't it Dex? The photographer was Art Kane.
I remembered the guitar player's name with Ray Ellington, it was Laurie Deniz. He remained with the group longest, but there was another guy before that. Didn't the knock out Marion Ryan sing with Ray Ellington for a while too?

I think my mate in France has a c.d. of that,We watched it last year.Absolutely brilliant.

I seem to remember that Sheffield had the biggest trad jazz club in UK at that time, but we weren't into it. We were boppers, all Charlie Parker and Diz. We got some big names at the City Hall from time to time.Ted Heath's big band, Kathy Stobart's trio, she was a very accomplished tenor sax player. The big American bands couldn't come into the UK because the Musician's union had put a block on them. So if you wanted to see them you had to go to Dublin, which we did. A British band Vic Lewis did all the Stan Kenton stuff, and very well too. Today I like Diana Krall, and some old stuff from Stan Getz, Ray Brown, Ella,Sarah Vaughn, Billie, Peggy. If you don't know their last names it don't matter, I do. Despite my slight dislike of Dixieland, Armstrong is still the best.

Hi Buck, I remember the musicians union ban and when it ended Stan Kenton Band was
one of the first bands to appear at the City Hall, I thought after seeing Kenton
why had the musicians feared the competition of the Americans?. After seeing
Count Basie and his Orchestra on the 6th April 1957 City Hall, I knew why British
musicians had feared the competition of the Americans.
That was the finest concert of Big Band Jazz that I have ever seen and
although I saw the Basie Band in November 1957 and again in September
1963 with Sarah Vaughan sharing the billing at the City Hall the April
concert was never bettered.
Like you, I preferred Modern Jazz but you had to go to London to see big
names and rather than not see any live music I was happy to accept
Trad music which was readily available for free in pubs and clubs
I now enjoy all jazz from ODJB,George Lewis to Stan Getz, Archie Shepp
Keep Smilin'

Sheff University was a breeding ground for jazz bands in the 50s and 60s. I played in a trad jazz ensemble, The Addy Street Five (there were six of us), in the early 60s. Most of our gigs were at college and university "hops" (remember that term?) but I remember playing at The Grapes and at a pub on Mansfield Rd near the Embassy ballroom. The strangest gig we did was courtesy of one of the international student societies (Rumanian, if I remember correctly). We all went down to London on a coach and played at a venue that resembled a large church hall. Everyone was dressed in native costume and they tried their best to do the traditional dances to a trad jazz beat. Happy days.

Hi Buck, I remember the musicians union ban and when it ended Stan Kenton Band was
one of the first bands to appear at the City Hall, I thought after seeing Kenton
why had the musicians feared the competition of the Americans?. After seeing
Count Basie and his Orchestra on the 6th April 1957 City Hall, I knew why British
musicians had feared the competition of the Americans.
That was the finest concert of Big Band Jazz that I have ever seen and
although I saw the Basie Band in November 1957 and again in September
1963 with Sarah Vaughan sharing the billing at the City Hall the April
concert was never bettered.
Like you, I preferred Modern Jazz but you had to go to London to see big
names and rather than not see any live music I was happy to accept
Trad music which was readily available for free in pubs and clubs
I now enjoy all jazz from ODJB,George Lewis to Stan Getz, Archie Shepp
Keep Smilin'Whenever I was in London, I always used to go into Ronnie Scott"s, which I believe was recently still running. Man, there was some real jamming late on at night with musicians from the UK and US giving out. Ronnie was no mean tenor sax himself. There are still some good musicians around like the Marsalis brothers, but the cream of the crop are leaving us. Kenny G is not my idea of jazz, and to call Norah Jones a jazz musician is ludicrous, as good a musician and singer as she is, she is no Oscer Peterson

Hi Buck, Ronnie Scott's club was being refurbished, I'm not sure if it has reopened or not
He was an excellent sax player and very humorous man. He once said the only
time Miles Davis spoke to him whilst he was performing at his club was to
tell him to "shift" when he was on his way to the bandstand.
When I look at recent Jazz Mags most of the names are not familiar to me
Some names that are and are currently performing,which I can recommend
are: Joshua Redman, Arturo Sandoval, Brad Mehldau,Dave Douglas,
Keith Jarrett,Terence Blanchard and if you like Latin jazz
try Poncho Sanchez or Chucho Valdes.
Claire Martin is British and an excellent jazz vocalist.
Enjoy.

Hi Buck, Ronnie Scott's club was being refurbished, I'm not sure if it has reopened or not
He was an excellent sax player and very humorous man. He once said the only
time Miles Davis spoke to him whilst he was performing at his club was to
tell him to "shift" when he was on his way to the bandstand.
When I look at recent Jazz Mags most of the names are not familiar to me
Some names that are and are currently performing,which I can recommend
are: Joshua Redman, Arturo Sandoval, Brad Mehldau,Dave Douglas,
Keith Jarrett,Terence Blanchard and if you like Latin jazz
try Poncho Sanchez or Chucho Valdes.
Claire Martin is British and an excellent jazz vocalist.
Enjoy.Hi Ronart One of the things about Ronnies was the pervading air of what were called reefers in those days. I like Keith Jarrett, he did some stuff with Getz not long before Stan died. Getz was a great lover of Brazilian music and so am I. The work he did with the Gilbertos is classical. The greatest Britsh female vocalist was Cleo Laine. I went to a concert and dance in Bognor Regis when she was performing with the Ray Ellington quartet. It must have been about 1951. She was very friendly and easy to talk to. Next time I saw her was at a jazz festival in Massachusetts in 1983 with her husband Johnny Dankworth and Mel Torme, still as good as ever.
I'm a great fan of Diana Krall, I have every CD she's made. The only one I don't like is " The girl in the other room " forced on her by her idiot husband Elvis Costello. Diane Reeve rates a listen too.

Thanks for the offer ronart. You and me must've met each other somewhere along the way. You mention the Shorty Rogers 'Cool and Crazy' album. I was there that night. I've even remembered the name of the pub, it was the Wharncliffe Arms.
It was one of those 10" LPs wasn't it? About eight tracks I think, including 'Infinity Promenade', 'Coop de Graas.' 'Short Stop,' Sweetheart of Sigmund Freud,' I cant remember the others. The band wasn't bad either, the most outstanding arguably, Maynard(three and a half octaves) Ferguson. Conrad Gozzo was in there too. What made it different was the inclusion of Tuba and French Horn played by Gene Englund and John Graas respectively.
I'd never heard that sound before, great writing.

Maynard Ferguson was Canadian as is Oscar.
Diana Kroll is also Canadian but is crap in my opinion,but then I am comparing her to the likes of Lady Day,Carmen,Dakota.Annie R,Sassy etc etc
In my line up she comes about 30th just before Doris Day

Maynard Ferguson was Canadian as is Oscar.
Diana Kroll is also Canadian but is crap in my opinion,but then I am comparing her to the likes of Lady Day,Carmen,Dakota.Annie R,Sassy etc etc
In my line up she comes about 30th just before Doris DayThe problem is most of these ladies,if not all, are no longer with us. Of course, Diana Krall is behind Billie, Sarah, Ella, Etta, Carmen, Peggy, Dinah, Nancy Wilson and Cleo Laine, but she's a fairly good pianist, good enough for Ray Brown to bring her along., and she's alive.

Hello Texas, Delighted to read your latest, yes that was the pub alright and as you say
we must have rubbed shoulders. I have the LP Cool and Crazy, it is a 10"
and also I have the follow up Shorty Rogers and his Giants also 10" LP.
Both of these albums have recently appeared on double CD along with
some wonderful Woody Herman and Stan Kenton Try Giant Steps Records
GIST 009. Or if you can E-mail ronald@ronart.plus.com I'll see what I can
do, if you get my drift. Keep Smilin and listening to the good noise.

Hi! Buck,I too am a Stan Getz fan but, I preffered his pre Bosa Nova records such as the
concert he recoded with JJ Johnson, At the Opera House, and the session he
recorded at Storyville, Boston.
I saw Cleo Laine several times at the City Hall, I have a slight problem with
her voice as she always sounds as those she is singing through a yawn.
However, I rate her version of the lovely song, I'll Be Around, from her
album, Smilin' Through, with Dudley Moore as the best version of the song
I've ever heard. I agree entirely withyour comments about Diana Krall.
Try the American singer, Lea Delaria, her albums "Play it Cool" and
"Double Standards" are brilliant, I can't think of anyone who she is like
but she presses all my buttons and even if you don't like her voice
the backing group is excellent with Seamus Blake,tsax, Gil Goldstein,
pno,Christian Mc Bride,bass and others.
Happy Listening.

Do any of you guys post on the 'All About Jazz' forum perchance? If not you might find it interesting. Just Google it in and follow the directions. It's a stateside thing so you Buck and maybe Sweetdexter could be on there already.
Speaking of Diana Krall, I haven't got much of her work but I like a lot of her early stuff, like when she was covering the old Nat Cole recordings. She did one track, nothing to do with Nat Cole, '42nd Street', I like that, she did it quite differently to the recognised approach, you know hands in the air 'showtune' type thing, and brought out what I call hidden menace of the area. If you've ever walked down there in the dark you'll know what I mean.

Sad news Oscar Peterson died yesterday.What a brilliant jazz pianist.Never mind we can still listen to him.

Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson he touched more listeners than jazz
fans. Jazz musicians who had Oscar in the rhythm section were on wings of joy.
Thanks Oscar.

Also Cecil Payne and Frank Morgan passed on recently. Neither of them were famous in the popular sense, but I dont think there would've been a Gerry Mulligan without Cecil. He was the daddy of all baritone players.
Frank Morgan, a little more obscure, sounded a lot like Bird.

Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson he touched more listeners than jazz
fans. Jazz musicians who had Oscar in the rhythm section were on wings of joy.
Thanks Oscar.Bye Oscar old Buddy, Art Tatum and Fats Waller are waiting up there for you, and maybe Teddy Wilson. There'll be jammin in heaven tonight.

Hello jazzers,
Regarding Eddie Condons band .Wild Bill Davison cornet, Bob Wilber Clarinet,Cutty Cutshall Trombone,Dick Cary Piano, Jack Lesberg bass . Wild Bill also played with Mick Shaw in Sheffield, as did Billy Butterfield.I also remember the Steel City Stompers booking Alex Welsh and his band to play at the Albert Hotel in Barkers Pool for the sum of £40.

Hi sprite, I see you posted this message in May 2005, so I hope you are still around? You mention that Wild Bill played with Mick Shaw in Sheffield. Was this Mick Shaw a Sheffield based trombone player who led his own band? If so could you provide a bit more information about him, and is he still going today?
It's nice to read about your memories of the jazz greats who visited Sheffield. Keep it up.:):)

I think someone mentioned a jazz club/room somewhere up West St,(not Baz's record sessions). Where was that, I seem to remember a long drunken argument about Roy Crimmens someplace up West St.
Anybody remember Tito Burns at the City one time. He had one of the earlier bop orientated bands. Played an accordian, not everybody's scene I know, but I dont mind it myself. Anyhow he used to do vocals with Terry Devon, his wife, they were good. They did stuff by Jackie Kane and Roy Krall, 'Euphoria' and I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' etc;etc.

I went to see Sydney Bechet, Humphrey Littleton Eric Delainey and most of the other bands at the City Hall, My boy friend at that time was a drummer Terry Royles, I do not know what became of him. I was only 16. I now live in Spain and Eric Delainey has been appearing here and was at El Cisne outside Benidorm last Saturday not playing but listening to the Jazz that is played each Saturday and Sunday. My friend had been to listen to him at one of the venues in Benidorm on the Friday and loved every minute.
Thank you for bringing some very happy memories back
Marie

Hi Marie,I wish I could tell you all about Terry Royles, sorry.
I too went to see all the big bands at the City Hall, including
Eric Delainey. The last time I saw him he was fronting a small
group at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool (circa 1990).
So many Big Bands in those days such as Teddy Foster, Ken Mackintosh, Geraldo,etc.
I've made a note of the jazz venue you mention.
Keep Smilin! Ron

Did anyone see the very moving programme on BBC2 on Sunday evening, George Mellys Last Stand. about his last days?, Good Time George really did fight it right to the end. RIP George and thanks for the memories.

Does anyone log onto a jazz site called 'Rifftides' by a Doug Ramsey perchance. It's a blog site, updated nearly every day, very entertaining for jazz aficionados. Currently there is a link to a short DVD featuring a couple of Spanish musicians who sound incredibly like Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer.

Gerry Mulligan & Bob Brookmeyer.
My first introduction to "Modern Jazz"
A 78 rpm Pop T had, around 55/6 Walking Shoes on one side and I think Lullaby of the Leaves on the reverse.
On a wind up gramophone , believe it or not.
BBC 7 on the Internet have some great Jazz programs

I went to see Sydney Bechet, Humphrey Littleton Eric Delainey and most of the other bands at the City Hall, My boy friend at that time was a drummer Terry Royles, I do not know what became of him. I was only 16. I now live in Spain and Eric Delainey has been appearing here and was at El Cisne outside Benidorm last Saturday not playing but listening to the Jazz that is played each Saturday and Sunday. My friend had been to listen to him at one of the venues in Benidorm on the Friday and loved every minute.
Thank you for bringing some very happy memories back
MarieDid you ever hear of a trumpet player called Ron Simmons, pal of Eric Delaney.

I remember Ron Simmons very well, a very very fine trumpet who first came to prominence with the Tommy Sampson Big Band in Scotland, (who is still leading a big band at 90 years old) Ron played with Oscar Rabin,Vic Lewis, Johnny Dankworth as he was known then, with Ted Heath in 1959 for two years, a very successful career on the continent with many famous jazz musicians, worked with symphony orchestras when specialist trumpet work was required, Ron lived in Spain and died there on the 24th of October 2005.

That's the man, Highnote.

Enjoyed all the memories, I apologize for this late start. I remember JATP at the City Hall in the early 50's with Ella and Oscar, what a night, cannot remember other performers at this time, saw all the British bands over the years and all the Americans that performed between early 50's and early 60's, I then left Sheffield, but I still love Sheffield to bits and all the memories it holds. People on this site have memtioned the concerts in Dublin due to the musicians union embargo. I was one of those that went, I cannot remember how many of these concerts there were at the Theatre Royal and my mind plays tricks with me these days, but I recall seeing Woody Herman and his Herd. As I recall some London musicians flew over and played in the pit prior to the band getting in. It was the most thrilling time, but I want to save thoughts about the whole scene for another time. I have enjoyed reading everything on this site.

I also remember Tito Burns with his wife Terry Devon, he was able to blend his accordian with his small group and make it sound like a larger band. I also saw them in a mid week concert/dance at the Astoria Ballroom in Attercliffe. I always enjoyed their rendition of 'Lemon Drop'. I also saw The Ray Ellington quartet at the same venue at a different time.

Fleetwood

Eric Delainey played at El Cisne near Benidorm last Saturday - he has written a book and it was on sale and he would sign any copes bought!

Just been reading thro' the thread again which included an interesting piece by Pensionipper where he reminisces about a shirt that was kissed(?) by Lita Rosa. May I ask for a few more details? Like how it came about?
And Highnote, regarding Carmen McRea. Her rapport with audiences was only second to Frank Sinatra. My favorit is on a recording she did at Ronnie Scott's. She'd just announced her next number and a member of the audience began to applaud a little bit premature, she soon silenced the person by saying 'You'd better save that, honey. You might want to take it back.' It always cracks me up.
Anyone remember a band at the Locarno with a brilliant drummer, name of Colin Bailey?
He eventually became a founder member of the Australian Jazz Quartet and then went to the U.S and became a studio musician, among other things. I think he's worked with a lot of famous names in his time.

In my young working life in Sheffield , the company I worked for did work at various companys around Sheffield, I was sent to Arthur lees at Wincobank, I met this electrician, i've forgotten his name but he was a drummer and a real nice guy, so we struck up this friendship everytime we met through work. He lived at Rotherham, he invited me and a mate to a jazz session at his house, there was a tenor player out of the Bernard Taylor band who everybody called 'Digger', he was terrific, also a bass player that was playing for the Teddy Foster band at the time plus some other guys, it was great Sunday afternoon session. I think on a subsequent visit to Nether Edge hall Saturday evening dance the drummer I knew was playing, i've no idea if it was a regular gig for him, does anybody remember this guy he had blonde hair.

I seem to remember the name 'Digger' associated with a musician, but that's as far as it goes. Everything else is cloudy.
The bass player, could it've been Kenny Napper?
Strange nobody mentioned Tony Oxley. He was a Sheffield lad. He played at the Grand along with Ray Hollingworth, 'Bunny'/'Buddy' Harris, et al. I remember them playing a gig in that pub opposite the Rotherham Baths. I think they styled themselves 'The Tony Oxley Quintet' at the time. They were good. I remember Ray really playing high (because Ray wasn't the introspective type of player), and Tony shouting at him to 'Save thi' sen.' I bet he doesn't speak like that now. I went on a trip to New York a few years back and he was working in a place in Chinatown with Cecil Taylor. I didn't get to speak to him, he's probably deaf as a post anyhow. He'll be 70 now and he's still thundering away. Clever kid he was.

Thanks TEXAS for your input. I knew Tony Oxley, the first time I saw him, he was young and accompnying a piano player at the Rotherham house pub. I know he went in the Blackwatch as a bandsman, when he got out he was an accompished drummer, the next time I saw him he was playing in a group in Sheffield, my friend Mick Patterson who was a great jazz pianist, was with them, alas Mick died from injuries in a traffic accident many years ago, its my understanding Tony Oxley eventually played in germany and settled there.

I remember being in town one saturday afternoon, I was going to the city hall that evening Ted heath was playing in concert, we knew it would be great and was really looking foreward, anyway we planned a visit to Cann's music store to check out some records, anyway who should be in the store but Jack Parnell and Lita Roza, he was there for some kind of promotion advertising ajax drums, they were talking to the fans and playing drums, it was really enjoyable and made the evening more enjoyable.

Yeah' he's brilliant Tony. He played at Ronnie Scotts for a while accompanying all the big names during the 60's. And he did a lot of stuff with Derek Bailey, you know, free form and all that jive.
Speaking of pub music though, I dont remember exactly why, but I was walking along Penistone Road once many years ago, and I was passing this pub (that was an event in itself), and I heard this piano player. It was like I was on rails, I wheeled around, straight into the bar, and this guy was absolutely brilliant. It turned out to be Brian Pendleton. He was subbing for a mate of his just for the night. Like I've always said, jazz is where you find it.

Thought I'd better point out that the Brian Pendleton I mean is the pianist and big band arranger currently with Sid Lawrence. (I think). Not Brian Pendleton the rocker.

a few years ago on a visit to SHEFFIELD i found out that t he jazz and big band society met in a pub at west bar ive forgotten the name of the pub, anyway i went, i think it was made up of ex musicians and long time fans alike, i met an old acquaintance, it was really enjoyable. on a more recent visit found that the society had moved, didnt know where until it was too late, at that time i think they had moved to another pub on bramall lane. if i was planning another trip i would probably be using this forum to find out if they still exist.

I remember Ron Simmons very well, a very very fine trumpet who first came to prominence with the Tommy Sampson Big Band in Scotland, (who is still leading a big band at 90 years old) Ron played with Oscar Rabin,Vic Lewis, Johnny Dankworth as he was known then, with Ted Heath in 1959 for two years, a very successful career on the continent with many famous jazz musicians, worked with symphony orchestras when specialist trumpet work was required, Ron lived in Spain and died there on the 24th of October 2005.

Ron Simmons ran his own website see link below.
It has not been updated since his death, as a trbute to to Ron.
It is still well worth a look, has many intersting articles and links for the Jazz enthusiast

www.jazzprofessional.com

I once remember reading a piece, in a newspaper, about Billy Eckstine. As far as I was concerned he was one of the few innovitive singers in jazz. However, Mr Eckstine did a tour of the UK and one of his gigs was in Sheffield. This would be sometime in the 70s I think. I must admit I'm a little foggy about the exact period. Does anyone remember this.
Apparently it was a disaster, he got in a slanging match with the audience, and everything went down the toilet.
According to bits and pieces I've ever read about him, he was a bit of a hot tempered character and didn't suffer fools gladly, even if there were no fools in the vicinity.
So what happened?

Everbody's got to remember the famous Billy Eckstine shirt, every young bopper worth his salt had to have one with the silky rolled collar and the french cuffs, I got mine from the little mens store next to the law court ( do you remember the stone fountain with the chained cast iron cup that all of Sheffield must have drunk out at one time or another) was that area Waingate or Fargate, I always got the two mixed up.

Do you remember Jimmy Rushing appearing at the City Hall, he was in good form.

Over here in NZ I was fortunate to buy a cd of him singing with the Dave Brubeck outfit and it is a great listen.

Can you remember the Dave Brubeck outfit with the incredible Paul Desmond on Alto.

Please keep this post going,it's so nostalgic of a time when you could really hear some innovative music played by such talented musicians.

Happy Days!
I heard the 'Melancholy Baby' track a couple of days ago. Just goes to show, put any musicians together and it works. I like Jimmy Rushing a lot, a good honest 'raughter'. (There's a bit of Sheffield talk for you).

I went to many jazz nights in the 1960's.
A friend, Harry Jarvis, played bass in the Climax Jazzmen which were resident at a pub ( can't remember is name) at FirVale. I went virtually every week. Anyone remember them ?
I also was a regular attender at The Esquire Jazz Club on Leadmill Road. This was a great venue with the stage and dance floor at first floor level - I recall it was quite dark with sofas around the edge of the room for couples . The ceiling was cut out so you could go onto the second floor and look down from up there.
The last time I went, instead of a jazz band there was a group called "The Merseys" -went on to become The Merseybeats I think. Never went again as I was more interested in jazz than pop.
Anybody remember The Esquire?
A works friend, Dave Brennan has run Dave Brennan's New Orleans Jazz Men for many years - they were resident at the Cranworth Hotel, Rotherham when I lived in Sheffield. I regularly went to hear them . They still play and produced their latest cd last year on the "pek sound" label. Dave hosted a weekly jazz spot on Radio Sheffield for some years.
John

I went to many jazz nights in the 1960's.
A friend, Harry Jarvis, played bass in the Climax Jazzmen which were resident at a pub ( can't remember is name) at FirVale. I went virtually every week. Anyone remember them ?
I also was a regular attender at The Esquire Jazz Club on Leadmill Road. This was a great venue with the stage and dance floor at first floor level - I recall it was quite dark with sofas around the edge of the room for couples . The ceiling was cut out so you could go onto the second floor and look down from up there.
The last time I went, instead of a jazz band there was a group called "The Merseys" -went on to become The Merseybeats I think. Never went again as I was more interested in jazz than pop.
Anybody remember The Esquire?
A works friend, Dave Brennan has run Dave Brennan's New Orleans Jazz Men for many years - they were resident at the Cranworth Hotel, Rotherham when I lived in Sheffield. I regularly went to hear them . They still play and produced their latest cd last year on the "pek sound" label. Dave hosted a weekly jazz spot on Radio Sheffield for some years.
John

Did Dave Brennan's band play in the '60s? I remember going to see a band play at a pub in Rotherham with a bunch of guys from the band I played in that was based at Sheff Univ. We "sat in" for a few numbers.

Did Dave Brennan's band play in the '60s? I remember going to see a band play at a pub in Rotherham with a bunch of guys from the band I played in that was based at Sheff Univ. We "sat in" for a few numbers.
Yes, The band led by Dave Brennan essentially formed in 1961 (although had played under various names earlier) and started at the Cranworth in 1963. The stayed there until 1978 but also played at the New Broom Hotel in the 60's.
The core of the band during these years was Bugs Burgon, Terry Kennedy, Pat O'Brien and Dave with a variety of others coming and going.
Following the Queen's Jubilee they were renamed Dave Brennan's Jubilee Jazz Band and since 1993 have been resident at the Three Horse Shoes, Wickersley.

Yes, The band led by Dave Brennan essentially formed in 1961 (although had played under various names earlier) and started at the Cranworth in 1963. The stayed there until 1978 but also played at the New Broom Hotel in the 60's.
The core of the band during these years was Bugs Burgon, Terry Kennedy, Pat O'Brien and Dave with a variety of others coming and going.
Following the Queen's Jubilee they were renamed Dave Brennan's Jubilee Jazz Band and since 1993 have been resident at the Three Horse Shoes, Wickersley.

I knew Dan O'Brien very well. He was also a student at Sheff Univ and he led a combo at The Grapes on Trippett Lane on Friday nights. Dan and I would sometimes alternate as we were both cornet players. I'll always remember one Friday night when we asked my brother to collect the entrance fees (a nominal amount) at the door. He ran out of tickets so for a laugh he tore up a cigarette packet and gave pieces of it to people as they came in. Everyone took their "tickets" without a murmur. Those were the days.

I've been trying to think who started the Esquire Club on Leadmill Road, and I'm almost certain it was the same guy who also originally ran the Club 60 on Infirmary Road. He got good jazz acts to appear at both these places. Was he from Manchester by any chance, name of Ernie Garside?

Originally Posted by PopT
Can you remember the Dave Brubeck outfit with the incredible Paul Desmond on Alto.
i have dave brubecks take five album on vinyl which has paul desmond on it

by the way any of you chaps visited tonys thread?
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=325827

:D

:evil :

ooh yes i know alec meet him a couple of time tried to get freebies from me at work, is he still around?. another guy i remember is bob cant remember his second name, used to run mr kites in town for a while, also had a second hand shop on the corner of crooksmoor rd, he had stacks of old jazz recordings taken from american radio stations in the fifties!!!
I just read thro' this again and there used to be a guy around called Bob Hudson, could that be the Bob you mean? Anyone else remember him? He used to hang around with a black guy, African I think, name of Fred.

All you guys visiting the forum, how about making a gig this Saturday, you will not be disappoited. You will hear all your favourite Maynard peices with a real Stan Kenton flavour. See below.

The Anchormensemble from Elland, West Yorkshire are proud to present a tribute concert in memory of the life and music of the legendary jazz trumpeter and musician Maynard Ferguson.
The performance is at The Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield on Saturday 19th April, starting at 8.00pmThe Anchormensemble is an all brass ensemble which captures the essence of a Maynard Ferguson performance. Their high octave trumpet section blends with baritone horns and mellophoniums, made famous by the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the 1950’s.
Accompanied by a driving rhythm section, their Maynard Ferguson tribute repertoire includes some "MF" favourites such as Danny Boy, MacArthur Park and Hey Jude all played with that unique Maynard style.

This latest performance comes on the back of an already successful preview performance the Priestley Theatre in Bradford in November 2007, and promises to be a very enjoyable evening..

To book tickets, priced at £10, please call the LBT on 01484 430528

Maynard Ferguson.Canadian.

You'll like this one. Many years ago I read in a biography of 'Fats' Waller, that when he was on tour in Britain in the 30s, he had a gig in Sheffield. Now that's a fact.
He had a few hours to spare and decided to have a look around. He wanted a bit of peace and quiet and he found himself in the Botanical Gardens. (They were up Ecclesall Road, right?) Anyhow he found himself a quiet seat and the muse came upon him. Having a scrap of paper and a pencil, he started, and possibly finished, 'Alligator Crawl'.

Maynard Ferguson.Canadian.

What is this supposed to mean??

You'll like this one. Many years started, and possibly finished, 'Alligator Crawl'.

Hi Texas,
I heard something similar about Fat's Waller.,but the tune was " Rose Garden"

Hi Texas,
I heard something similar about Fat's Waller.,but the tune was " Rose Garden"
lol
a quick google and i just found the following
"Fats Waller was reincarnated in Sheffield in a big way. The programme notes reported he had been at the now non-existent Sheffield Empire Theatre and wandering in one of its many parks had heard a lively strain from the birds which inspired him to return to his hotel and finish off Honey Hush."

taken from http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/misbehavin-rev.htm

so thats :-
honey hush
rose garden
alligator crawl

What is this supposed to mean??

Lots of people think N American Jazz musicians come from the US.
Just pointing out the M. F . was Canadian.
As was" O. P.

Someone told me the other day that Dick Charlesworth had died. I must admit I was struggling a bit to think who he was, and then I remembered he played clarinet. Now I find he had the band 'The City Gents' back in the 'trad' boom, and he came from Sheffield. I seem to remember they wore bowler hats like the Acker Bilk outfit.
Somebody should do research on finding the park and the seat where 'Fats' was inspired and put up a plaque, hell, the council could put one up anyhow, wherever, nobody would know the truth anyhow. They could put up three really. In different parks.

Reading Humph's obit in the Guardian reminded me of a concert at the City Hall with Humph and Sydney Bechet marching round the stage like a couple of kids.
Alas no longer whinnieng with us.

Reading Humph's obit in the Guardian reminded me of a concert at the City Hall with Humph and Sydney Bechet marching round the stage like a couple of kids.
Alas no longer whinnieng with us.
Just finished reading the 'Times' obituary. I remember that concert well.
Jimmy Giuffre gone too, 'Train and the River', Four Brothers', good R'n'B player, get him in the mood.

One of my memories of Humphrey Lyttleton was from a concert in the fifties in the very early days of his band,Ian Christie clarinet,his brother Keith trombone(later to become a stalwart of the Ted Heath trombone section)George Webb piano,and one of the numbers was Does Jesus care?,and Humph said when they had recently recorded this, the record company were horrified, remember this was the early fifties, we can't put that on a record label!!so a compromise was reached,and it was re-named DJC Blues, and Humph said when the record was released it had DJC Blues and in brackets (Does Jesus Care) on the label!
Remember the cries of sacrilege from the purists when Bruce Turner joined the band"An alto saxaphone in a trad band" they could not believe it.
Another memory mentioned earlier was when the immortal Sydney Bechet played there and for some reason I cannot recall, George Webb was sat in front of us and like us going into raptures at Bechets swinging soprano, and he turned to us and said I have never heard anything like this, neither had we!!!
Whilst remembering Sydney Bechet, some years later in 1958 we were in Brussels at the World Expo, and the America Pavilion featured some top jazz stars,one of which was Bechet and also Sarah Vaughan, sadly Bechet was to leave this life a few months later.Sassy that show really did live up to her nickname, when she came on stage it was obvious she was in a right temper, and would you believe there was a problem with the sound system,just what was needed,but Miss Vaughan took it all in her stride, and although the backing group were playing the correct tune and tempo Sarah extemporised with her own not too complimentary lyrics in perfect time bang on the beat and rhythm, a star performance.
Some wonderful memories. Rest in peace Humph I hope you are jamming with Gabriel

One of my memories of Humphrey Lyttleton was from a concert in the fifties in the very early days of his band,Ian Christie clarinet,his brother Keith trombone(later to become a stalwart of the Ted Heath trombone section)George Webb piano,and one of the numbers was Does Jesus care?,and Humph said when they had recently recorded this, the record company were horrified, remember this was the early fifties, we can't put that on a record label!!so a compromise was reached,and it was re-named DJC Blues, and Humph said when the record was released it had DJC Blues and in brackets (Does Jesus Care) on the label!
Remember the cries of sacrilege from the purists when Bruce Turner joined the band"An alto saxaphone in a trad band" they could not believe it.
Another memory mentioned earlier was when the immortal Sydney Bechet played there and for some reason I cannot recall, George Webb was sat in front of us and like us going into raptures at Bechets swinging soprano, and he turned to us and said I have never heard anything like this, neither had we!!!
Whilst remembering Sydney Bechet, some years later in 1958 we were in Brussels at the World Expo, and the America Pavilion featured some top jazz stars,one of which was Bechet and also Sarah Vaughan, sadly Bechet was to leave this life a few months later.Sassy that show really did live up to her nickname, when she came on stage it was obvious she was in a right temper, and would you believe there was a problem with the sound system,just what was needed,but Miss Vaughan took it all in her stride, and although the backing group were playing the correct tune and tempo Sarah extemporised with her own not too complimentary lyrics in perfect time bang on the beat and rhythm, a star performance.
Some wonderful memories. Rest in peace Humph I hope you are jamming with Gabriel

OOOOPS sorry pressed the button twice,"Stupid boy"

Humph died? Oh, no. Just found out reading this thread. For me, back in the 60s, I always preferred Chris Barber to Humph. Nevertheless, he was truly a great trumpeter, soloist, and band leader, with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. Both Chris and Humph moved on from Dixieland to mainstream jazz, leaving me behind in their wake I'm afraid. My problem, not Humph's. RIP, buddy.

Thinking about HL and wondering what the odds are of him NOT having a New Orleans type funeral. By rights he should, but I have my doubts.

Just finished reading the 'Times' obituary. I remember that concert well.
Jimmy Giuffre gone too, 'Train and the River', Four Brothers', good R'n'B player, get him in the mood.

Public radio in the US replayed a 1994 interview with Jimmy Giuffre ,I am listening to it at the moment
http://www.wgbh.org/webcasts/

I wonder how many Forum jazz fans remember or even attended a mid-week concert/dance at the Mecca Locarno in Sheffield approx. between mid to late 50's. Why it was memorable because it was the United States Air Force Dance Band and they were terrific. The resident house band played alternate sets. As I recall did'nt they have a revolving bandstand? Anyway it was a super evening. I've often wondered if any of the musicians that played that night ever became famous. I know the big band era in the States was on the decline by that time, but I would like to think some of these fine musicians eventually found their way into some of the name bands of the day.

Yes I well remember the dance you mention having attended the dance, a terrific US Air Force big band, and the occasion is memorable for something else too, my cousins husband was there with another woman!, which gave him quite a shock when he saw me and my mate, but being the gentleman I am my mouth has remained firmly shut, something he always appreciated, and as he has left this life now he does not have to worry!!!.

Thanks for that Dex. I had a listen to the U.S public radio broadcast, interesting. I must say I haven't followed JG's career much, apart from his earlier stuff, and I knew he'd gone into free jazz which doesn't attract me at all, but the piece toward the end of the programme with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow sounded OK.

Thanks for that Dex. I had a listen to the U.S public radio broadcast, interesting. I must say I haven't followed JG's career much, apart from his earlier stuff, and I knew he'd gone into free jazz which doesn't attract me at all, but the piece toward the end of the programme with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow sounded OK.

JG's voice was very reminiscent of Jimmy Carter.
I have the LP he did with the MJQ

I read somewhere recently that the Buena Vista Social Club are on a tour and were going to play the City Hall in Sheffield. Anybody been or going? I like bit of Cuban myself, of course they are without the great Ruben Gonzalez now but they're still worth seeing.

Does anyone remember Dick Charlsworth the clarinet player who died this week?
He was born and brought up in Sheffield.
His name does not ring a bell with me, but I could have heard him if he was playing with some of the Trad bands in Sheffield in the 50s

Does anyone remember Dick Charlsworth the clarinet player who died this week?
He was born and brought up in Sheffield.
His name does not ring a bell with me, but I could have heard him if he was playing with some of the Trad bands in Sheffield in the 50s

definitely remember the name, sweetdexter, and I'm of 50/60s Sheffield vintage. But I never saw him.

Does anyone remember Dick Charlsworth the clarinet player who died this week?
He was born and brought up in Sheffield.
His name does not ring a bell with me, but I could have heard him if he was playing with some of the Trad bands in Sheffield in the 50s
See my post on the 21st April. The only time I saw his band was on a Morcambe and Wise show, like I say they were called The City Gents' and wore bowler hats.

Just a quick question. I think it was the late 50's, Lionel Hampton and his orchestra were on a European tour, they did a gig in Sheffield at the City Hall, did anyone go to the show?
And more importantly, do they remember the trumpet section?

Just a quick question. I think it was the late 50's, Lionel Hampton and his orchestra were on a European tour, they did a gig in Sheffield at the City Hall, did anyone go to the show?
And more importantly, do they remember the trumpet section?
Hi TEXAS I remember that concert, it was a mid-week event at the City Hall, it was by no means a full capicity audience. Hamp told everybody to move down front to fill it out and thats what people did. It was a terrific show and Hamp was in fine form. I don't remember the trumpet section, but I suppose Quincy Jones could have been in the line up around that time.

[QUOTE=Texas;3569895]See my post on the 21st April. The only time I saw his band was on a Morcambe and Wise show, like I say they were called The City Gents' and wore bowler hats.[/QUOTE

I did read that post, but it did not register.
Charlsworth died April 15
The Guardian are a month behind in the Obit's

I used to go to the crucible studio for the jazz in the round.I saw kenny wheeler and many other i cant remember the names.
I was lucky enough to see Miles Davis at the manchester apollo in 1989.I travelled down from scotland to see him with my wife.Wow he was so good.Not exactly jazz but heavy heavy and oh so loud funk,jazz rock.We then saw him again in 1990 at the Glasgow SECC.It was not a good gig.But what the heck, it was Miles Davis.And for vix and I he was god.

Miles Davis. I used to think the sun shone out of his spit valves. I got loads of his stuff but stopped buying it when he went into electronics. One of his most exciting albums, to my mind, was the live concert at Antibes, with Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams et al. I read much later that he edited the tapes, most disapointing.
I used to spit into a trumpet myself and Miles was my idol, then I saw Lee Morgan on a club gig, and was devastated. I didn't play much after that. Still love the music though.

RE Miles Davis, for me Kind of blue is truly amazing.With Coltrane,Evans,Adderly etc its perfect and a pivotal jazz album and very original in its contruction.Also In a silent way marks another transition in jazz style moving into jazz rock.Both albums are very spatial.I often think that Eric Satie paved the way for modern jazz.I suppose when people read this kind of view then they usually use the term "jazz bore" or jazz snob"
But the raw emotion of Miles,etc really os hard to beat.
Oh yeh,The sidewinder, by Lee Morgan is really a nice piece of jazz.Or being pedantic, "hard bop."
Its a pity that jazz is considered to be an old person music.Im not old.Current club bands like st germain,cimematic orchestra,koop etc prove how popular it is.
As Miles said "call it anything you want." and famously to John McClaughlin as he passed him sheet music,"Play what is not there, what you cant see."

My favourite 'Miles' is still 'Birth of the Cool', because probably it takes me back to my late teen years and beyond. The CD I've got is the complete Birth of the cool with both the studio and the live performance sessions. In later years as someone pointed out you had to be careful when purchasing Miles's stuff, apparently he was always short of money (probably due to an excessive life style) so he was constantly going to his record producer to edit the material every which way to give him the maximum recordings possible. Whenever I was in a record store and checking the Jazz section out there always seemed to be more of Miles's than say Oscar Peterson.

Mine too Fleetwood. I think I've had the studio recordings in every format possible. I know all the solos on every track I think.
I find a lot of the old stuff takes you back to a certain place and a certain time. I cant listen to Kenton's 'Itermission Riff' without it carrying me back to the Middle East in the Army. FBS used it to introduce a jazz programme. Another one that springs to mind is 'Grooveyard', a Milt Jackson track, that reminds me of the Royal Engineers camp at Liss, in Hampshire, while I was on Reserve. I was on picket duty one night and it was coming from the Officers Mess.
If you're digging this ronart, I've sent you a PM.

Hi Texas, Hope you got the info I sent about the Victor Feldman CD. In case you
did'nt you can find it on www.amazon.co.uk. The Artful Dodger is a Concord disc.
A bit pricey for me, although always well recorded.
Don't see much live jazz lately, the last I saw was Joe Lovano at the Crucible.
An important CD a recently unearthed tape of Horace Silver at Newport jazz Festival
June 1958, Title " Live at Newport 58 " It has the little recorded but excellent Louis Smith
trumpet, a Blue Note CD. You wont be disappointed with it.
Also, try Simon Spillett-tenor sax he is a terrific British player a re-incarnation of Tubby
Hayes. Try his Sienna Red album recorded last year on the Woodville label.
Keep listening to the good noise Ronart.

Right on TEXAS In the years we are both talking about, you probably could'nt go into too many dance halls that the band did'nt have a standard stock arrangement of say 'Move' or 'Boplicity' on their music stands. You mention Kentons 'Intermission Riff', one of the all time classics. I remember going into our local snack bar/hang out where they had a Juke Box (78's at twopence a time) and spending all my hard earned pocket money playing it constantly, until I figured out how to get my hand around the back and coax some freebies out of the thing. When I went abroad doing my NS, the first music on air I heard was 'Radio Damascus' and was amazed, all they played was American popular music. I had no idea where that station originated or where the transmitters were, I do know that Jo Stafford's 'You Belong To Me' (See the pyramids along the nile, see .......) was at the top of the local hit parade for about a year. Then I found 'Willis Connover' on 'Voice of America' and the rest, as they say, is history, great Jazz all the time, wonderful interviews and hearing all the Jazz artists that were coming up around that time.

Right on TEXAS In the years we are both talking about, you probably could'nt go into too many dance halls that the band did'nt have a standard stock arrangement of say 'Move' or 'Boplicity' on their music stands. You mention Kentons 'Intermission Riff', one of the all time classics. I remember going into our local snack bar/hang out where they had a Juke Box (78's at twopence a time) and spending all my hard earned pocket money playing it constantly, until I figured out how to get my hand around the back and coax some freebies out of the thing. When I went abroad doing my NS, the first music on air I heard was 'Radio Damascus' and was amazed, all they played was American popular music. I had no idea where that station originated or where the transmitters were, I do know that Jo Stafford's 'You Belong To Me' (See the pyramids along the nile, see .......) was at the top of the local hit parade for about a year. Then I found 'Willis Connover' on 'Voice of America' and the rest, as they say, is history, great Jazz all the time, wonderful interviews and hearing all the Jazz artists that were coming up around that time.

I remember siting behind Stan Kentons Orch; at the City Hall.
We happened to be directly behind the French Horn guy.
That band really blew up a storm.
I also listened to VOA and Willis Connover ,this was in the UK.
It came on late at night 11.pm or midnight.
The transmission must have been from Germany because the reception was terrible but my ear was glued to the radio.
I still delight in hearing Joe Stafford.
What was it someone said (Bunnyn Berrigan ????)" We Called it Music".
Did anyone hear Joe Stafford and her hubby Paul Western doing the satirical duets "Jonathan and Darlene" Hilarious ,Joe Stafford used to sing 'sharp' very hard to do but very funny

Thanks SWEETDEXTER I hav'nt heard 'Jonathan and Darlene' in a long time, but it's a classic, she is singing sharp and not always hitting the highnotes and he is making runs across the keys and tripping over his own fingers, truly hilarious. Jo Stafford and Paul Weston, it's my understanding that she is or was in a care facility and he sadly died a few years ago. In my teen years I had a 78 of Jo Stafford doing a Bebop version of 'When the Red Red Robin comes Bop Bop Bopping Along' and who was backing her but Dave Lambert and a Jazz Choir, that was years before Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fame. Hav'nt heard that recording since.

Thanks for the reply ronart, I had a look on Amazon but I guess I missed it.
Regarding Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, does anyone recollect the album cover, hands on a piano keyboard, with six fingers on each hand. Actually I found that when you'd played the album a few times you began to think that the 'out of tuneness' was the only way to go. Very clever concept, that album, and a brilliant singer, Jo Stafford.
Remember Red Ingle and the Natural Seven? 'Timtayshun'(Temptation) and 'Cigareets and Whuskey'. Well Cinderella K Stomp is Jo Stafford again. She was letting her Tennessee roots show there. She made some great sides, I think my favorit is 'Haunted Heart'. I first heard that only a few years ago, playing over the titles of a film starring Jack Nicholson. I think it was a sort of sequel to 'Chinatown'. We used to listen to her and try to figure out where she was breathing.

Found the 'Artful Dodger' CD, you're right ronart It's a bit pricey. I've had second thoughts.

Who remembers Arthur Rowberry and his band in the early to mid 50's? I know they were a northen based band with the usual compliment of musicians, 4tpts, 4tbs, 5sax's and rhythm section, I can't recall what instrument the leader played, if any. Anyway they performed a Sunday afternoon concert at the City Hall, their repetoire consisted of all the usual standard material that was being played around that time, but they sounded great and truly profesional. What made it all the more enjoyable for me, I recognized a guy on alto sax. He had been part of a sextet that had played every week at the Astoria Ballroom Attercliffe, he had just gotten out of the Army around that time, he was a great musician and was always receptive to our requests.

That's another gig that passed me by. Four trumpets, four trombones, five saxes, wow!
I got a feeling though that it was a Birmingham based outfit, I never did, but I certainly would've, liked to have heard them.
Have you any information on the personel of the band, I would be interested If you had.
It's amazing though how many musicians you might've had a laugh or a drink with in the 50's, who you thought wouldn't amount to much, but are still doing the business and are wildly succesful. I remember being on a short holiday in Torquay about 55, and going to a dancehall on the front called the '400'. The Nat Temple Band was featured that week and me and a mate got chatting to the piano player, being jazz fans and all. He seemed a bit of a raver, and like I say, didn't seem different to any other musician. Anyhow it was Ron Roullier, and look how succesful he eventually became.
I got this little shortwave radio. I was fooling around with it a few nights ago and hit on this obscure station somewhere. The sound was fading in and out, the song was 'Time after Time', the singer, Frank Sinatra, and it was like being back in the 40's, trying to get AFN on the radio. Where do I live? In the past.

We could have been rubbing shoulders TEXAS I was also in Torquay around that time, it was a warm Summer evening, I don't remember the dance hall or the name of the band, but sitting in the trumpet section as large as life and wearing sunglasses was Jimmy Deuchar, who had made a name for himself at that time playing with the likes of Johnny Dankworth and Jack Parnell etc. I recall it was quite common to read in the 'Melody Maker' what gigs the various musicians were playing at for the Summer season.

TEXAS it's me again, I was rambling on as usual. You might be right on the Birmingham aspect, I don't remember any of the names in the Arthur Rowberry band of that time except the alto player that I recognized who's last name might have been 'Smith'.

Here's another anecdote I remembered recently. I was having a natter with a guy who was on the faculty of Southampton University for a while. I would like to point out though, that jazz is the only thing we have in common. He had also had something to do with the University in Sheffield, this was back in the 80's. Anyhow we got to talking about various tenor players and Teddy Edwards's name cropped up. He told me that he had seen Teddy Edwards at the University Union in Sheffield, about 1984. Anyone remember the gig?

This is really a question for ronart. On those record sessions of Baz's, another regular was a kid who's name I cant remember, he used to knock around with Graham Ellis, the footballer. He had distinctive white patch of hair on the back of his head. (No kidding).

In reply to Sweetdexter's post at the beginning of this Jazz forum;
I played clarinet in Cyril Preston's first trad band that played that evening ..as i remember it, it was the art school ball in Netheredge. Charles Priest, a local photographer turned up with Sylvia Frith, who proceeded to jive and reveal here assets in front of the stage ! At which point, unfortuantly dignitaries (as they were called then!) entered and stopped us playing !
I think that was the end of preceedings for the night, but can't be sure!

The name of the pub mentioned on West Bar was called the Blue Boar, we played there during the interval! A Highlight was meeting Big Bill Broonzy ...Cryril then went on to join Dick Charlesworth's band, but died in a motorcycle accident sometime in the 70's. He and I dated sisters ....Great days !

In reply to Sweetdexter's post at the beginning of this Jazz forum;
I played clarinet in Cyril Preston's first trad band that played that evening ..as i remember it, it was the art school ball in Netheredge. Charles Priest, a local photographer turned up with Sylvia Frith, who proceeded to jive and reveal here assets in front of the stage ! At which point, unfortuantly dignitaries (as they were called then!) entered and stopped us playing !
I think that was the end of preceedings for the night, but can't be sure!

The name of the pub mentioned on West Bar was called the Blue Boar, we played there during the interval! A Highlight was meeting Big Bill Broonzy ...Cryril then went on to join Dick Charlesworth's band, but died in a motorcycle accident sometime in the 70's. He and I dated sisters ....Great days !





Thanks Chris H,your memory is much better than mine.
Now you mention it 'Blue Boar ' it was,just steps away from the 149 bus route home at Bridge St.
I saw Big bill Broonzy at the City Hall. Fabulous .
Broonzy was "Feeling no pain" but having a ball.
Great concert.
I used to have all Broonzy's recordings gave them to a mate when I came to Canada.
I think I had a few words with you standing in the bogs at the Blue Boar

Regarding Sylvia flashing her bits at the Blue Boar. The first I heard of it was a picture in the 'Daily Mirror'. Damn! she was a good looking chick.

Regarding Sylvia flashing her bits at the Blue Boar. The first I heard of it was a picture in the 'Daily Mirror'. Damn! she was a good looking chick.

Sorry Texas but it was not at the 'Blue Boar'
It was up Netheredge at the Art School Ball.
Off topic but why would the pub be called 'Blue Boar'
There are lots of 'Blue Balls 'around, Maybe an indication of the weather and the testicle preponderance to be affected by the cold.

Surely a Boar would not turn blue if it got cold

Of course it was dex. My mistake.

Your mention of AFN Texas really set my memory banks whirling!I can remember listening to Midnight in Munich,at 11pm in the UK,they were on continental time, with the the man who ran the show Ralph"Muffitt" Moffat, the signature tune was the original Charlie Barnet verson of Skyliner, and featured all the American Big Bands and vocalists,and this was my first introduction to a very strange sound, when he signed off with Painted Rythmn by Stan Kenton,which was quite a shock,after Henry Hall, Jack Payne, Billy Ternent and the like.Some time later there was a concert at the City Hall with a service band, The Blue Rockets and the guest was Ralph Moffat.
A few years after whilst doing my National Service we had a bod in our billet with a portable gramophone and a load of Kenton 78's Intermission Riff,Peanut Vendor, Concerto to end all Concertos you know the rest,and I used to sit enthralled at this wonderful sound, so I really received a thorough grounding in the music of Stan the man.
Don't worry about the past,remember the old saying about looking back"The past is a foreign country"

Great stuff there Highnote. Speaking of AFN again reminded me of another network I used to try to listen to late 40's,on Sunday evenings, was the French station RTF(French Radio Television). They had some good players on there, lots of American guests and some of the good French musicians. I remember the sig tune on that programme was the song 'Boom',the Maurice Chevalier hit, but it was a bebop version done by some French band.
But to get back to Kenton. Now this is really jazznerd. I once drove from Topeka to Wichita in Kansas just to say I'd actually been where Stan Kenton was brought up. And dont get me started on Charlie Parker.
Just thinking, AFN is where I first heard Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, brought up on Tommy Handley, Arthur Askey etc;etc; they were off another planet.

Thanks HIGHNOTE. Talking about late night jazz programmes, did'nt Jack Jackson (one time trumpeter and bandleader) have a record show on late night B.B.C. radio in the late 40's and early 50's? Could be wrong on this one, but I seem to remember his signature tune being Harry James's 'Concerto for Trumpet Blues and Cantable,' then it would blend into Stan Kenton's 'Artistry in Rhythm', he would sign off the show with Kenton's 'Painted Rhythm also.

Re my earlier post. I mixed up two Harry James titles together, one was called 'Concerto for Trumpet' and the other was 'Trumpet Blues and Cantablile'. I seem to think his signature tune was one of them, he ended with Kenton's 'Painted Rhythm'.

No you are not a jazznerd Texas I would have done the same.
The mention of Harry James reminds me the first record I ever bought way way back was Trumpet Blues and Cantablile on a 78 which I played and played on an old wind up gramaphone.
Jack Jackson's late night Saturday programme has awakened another memory, whilst doing my National Service I was statoned at an aerodrome in North Yorkshire servicing transport aircraft engaged on th Berlin Airlift,and one hot Saturday night everyone was listening to the said Jack Jackson, windows open,others relaxing in the NAAFI with a few beers, except us,we were on night duty, and as we walked down to the hangars to work, the tune playing from those open windows was Frankie Laine singing Ghost Riders In The Sky, and whenever I hear that anywhere now, I am immediately taken back in time to that hot Saturday night sixty years ago.
I have been listening to some of the Japanese student Big Bands on You Tube videos,and on one there was a comment on the base trombonists never getting solo's and a reply from a Joe Varsalona saying his dad never did,and when I put a comment asking if he was a relative of Bart Varsalona 0f Kenton fame the reply was,"He was my Dad"
Keep those memories coming from long gone days, long gone days but very happy days.

Jack Jackson did have a record programme late 40's early 50's and actually it was on that programme I first heard the Kenton orchestra. The record was 'Peanut Vendor'. It was a hit about that time and it was all down to JJ. He seemed to be quite a fan.
I remember seeing JJ at the City Hall at some concert or other, he did a bit or comparing, a few jokes, played trumpet a bit, 'course he was past his best.
It seems fantastic to think Stan Kenton's version of 'Peanut Vendor' could be so popular and the best thing is, it never seems to get stale. He did two or three slightly different arrangments down the years,noticable in the solos, but the rhythm and the trumpet section,with that dissonance, remained the same, just a great record.
There were other records by great musicians that became hits like you wouldn't believe. Remember Earl Bostic? Flamingo? I cant think of a juke box without that being on there. That rhythm and blues sound, with the heavy backbeat, the beginning of rock n' roll.
And what of Pee Wee Hunt? 'Twelfth Street Rag'. Not real jazz, said the jazz police, but I liked it, and it went on forever. The 'B side was good too, 'Somebody else not Me'.
'Orange Colored Sky' Nat Cole AND Stan Kenton, I can remember three or four of us kids singing it walking down Catherine St, FLASH, BAM, ALAKAZAM. Innocent days they were.
Rose Murphy, Louis Prima, Louis Jordan, and more, who's names escape me for the moment,
all jazz people trying to make a buck.
Even Billie Holliday, all her records were for the popular market, doing covers of songs sung by white artistes, or stuff that nobody else wanted. She just had to sing. And it so happened that she was that good.

I'm with you TEXAS some of the music may not be strictly jazz but who cares it was truly enjoyable, you could'nt switch on a radio at one time without listening to somebody's rendition of '12th Street Rag'. A few more names from the past, you can't mention Louis Prima without Keely Smith, can you (I believe she's still around and singing.) Nelly Lutcher was another one quite popular, I suppose, in the r&b style. Then who remembers and enjoyed Buddy Morrow's 'Night Train'? I can practically hear all the 'me, me, me's,' on that one. I've seen Buddy Morrow in recent years fronting a Dorsey Bros. tribute band. The late Sheffield jazz enthusiast 'Baz's name comes up quite often, I also attended a few of these 'record' sessions. Geoff ? was another member of that group (I think he owned a corner shop at Heeley Bottom) I seem to remember a guy that managed a Co-op at that time, also a tall guy that was either a lawyer or he worked in some legal office (I'm sorry there names are long forgotten.) Years ago I was passing through Midland Station, this was many years after Baz had passed away, anyway I got myself a taxi-cab and the driver still remembered Baz the cabbie and what a big jazz fan he had been.

You beat me to the punch Fleetwood, Nellie Lucher, that's one of the names I couldn't remember. But 'Night Train', I remember that allright. Buddy Morrow had a hit with it,but it was a Jimmy Forrest song originally. He must've sold it for the price of a hamburger or something. A bit like Charlie Parker's 'Now's the Time' being renamed 'The Hucklebuck' and making a small fortune for somebody else.

I seem to remember Quincy Jones on a talk show, talking about 'any would be composer of music and the like', 'that if you were not in the music publishing business also', you were not in the 'music business at all' . Meaning, I suppose, you could lose royalties, as many have done in the past.

I think that would hold true in any branch of the arts. A good few writers and poets have gone into publishing to keep control of their own stuff. Did you see 'Q' on TV not so long ago, taking solos with the Hampton band? I seem to remember he was in the trumpet section when it also held Clifford Brown and Art Farmer. Someone said he wasn't very good,Quincy that is, bloody hell, maybe he was and maybe he wasn't but he had a lot to live up to with players of that calibre.

Hi Highnote

Re carmen macrae and quote ide like to anall, i saw lita roza at the city hall
with ted heath, the same thing happened,i wonder who the bloke was.
Incidentally we reffered to her as two and a half litre roza,being sports car nuts.
Great days!
Chris h.

'Bird Lives'

He certainly does PopT.
Surely Chris it was just two litre Roza, subtle though innit?
Anybody remember that other sound in the early 50's, the Red Norvo trio, him and Charlie Mingus and Tal Farlow. No long players there, said all they had to say in about two minutes, and everybody got to solo. We got a lot of them on FBS in Egypt.

Who remembers the Kurt Edelhagen band from Germany playing a City Hall concert back in the 50's or was it earlier? I seem to remember they played in the Kenton style and played all the favourites of the day. Cannot recall if they shared the bill with any other group though. The great Dutch pianist Pia Beck and her Trio was another European, who played the 'City' around that time also, although, I distinctly remember she opened for a British band.

Kurt Edelhagen, that was ANOTHER gig I missed. I remember Tubby Hayes worked in the band at one time, and Ronnie Stephenson the drummer.
Did you ever see the Ronnie Scott band at the City? I think it lasted about a year,the band I mean not the concert. Something like an eight piece, with Ronnie Scott, and Pete King on tenors, Benny Green on baritone, Vic Feldman pno, Phil Seaman, I cant remember the trumpet player, either Jimmy Deuchar or Hank Shaw, can't remember the bass player either, or the trombone. Could it have been Ken Wray, wore glasses? I remember they had a singer, Art Baxter, real character, Ronnie Scott had him billed as an ex barrow lad who would'nt be long before he went back to his last profession. I really liked that band.
A few years ago I went to see a little show Benny Green did accompanying Helen Shapiro called 'The Quality of Mercer'. My wife went to get his autograph and get the album on offer. All I could say was 'When did you pack the bari' in then'.
Funny, I always thought of him as a baritone player. Smashing bloke though, one of my jazz hero's, the late Benny Green. I used to buy the 'Musical Express' just for his column, so hip without being pretentious. That was in the 50's.

Kurt Edelhagen,great band,I once heard the story told by the late Alan Dells continental big band advisor about, I think it was the Edelhagen band who were rehearsing some new charts and a young lady singer turned up trying to get an audition,no luck, so she turned up the next day, and the next day, until Edelhagen took pity on her and granted an audition,she was plainly dressed,flat heel shoes, hair scraped back,but absolutely wowed them all,who was she?Caterina Valente.
I too remember the Ronnie Scott band,and agree about Benny Green,very humourous writer,I think he packed up the baritone sax to do his writing,did'nt he write for some of the posh broadsheeets eventually?
Another jazz man who always suited my taste was Stephane Grappelli, boy could he make his violin swing.
Some years ago he was appearing at the Crucible,it was Sunday evening and my jazz buddy was away on holiday so my dear wife,not a jazz lover,said she would go with me as company,and was quite prepared to be utterly bored,but she sat their completely captivated by his playing and lovely personality and thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Some bad news. Jo Stafford died on Wednesday aged 90, may she rest in peace.
A great, great singer, one of the best ever.

Great stuff there Highnote. Speaking of AFN again reminded me of another network I used to try to listen to late 40's,on Sunday evenings, was the French station RTF(French Radio Television). They had some good players on there, lots of American guests and some of the good French musicians. I remember the sig tune on that programme was the song 'Boom',the Maurice Chevalier hit, but it was a bebop version done by some French band.
But to get back to Kenton. Now this is really jazznerd. I once drove from Topeka to Wichita in Kansas just to say I'd actually been where Stan Kenton was brought up. And dont get me started on Charlie Parker.
Just thinking, AFN is where I first heard Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, brought up on Tommy Handley, Arthur Askey etc;etc; they were off another planet.When I was stationed in Malta with my family during the fifties, the only English speaking station was AFN out of Libya. For a long time devotee of Gillespie and Parker, the incredible Sarah Vaughan, and Stan Getz and Gery Mulligan on the west coast this was great . They did all the baseball games, and I could never understand what they were talking about. I know now!

Some of the contempory stuff is too "electronic" for my taste, and whoever told Kenny G he was a jazz musician. I have a lot of regard for Diana Krall. She's no Oscar Peterson or Art Tatum but she swings well with a good bass like the late Ray Brown, and a good guitarist. Marrying Elvis Costello hasn't done a lot of good for her. That "Girl in the other room " CD is the worst thing she ever did, thanks to Elvis.

Some bad news. Jo Stafford died on Wednesday aged 90, may she rest in peace.
A great, great singer, one of the best ever.

Hear, hear ,on that Texas.
'Alas, no longer whinnying with us'

Thanks for the news of the passing of Jo Stafford Texas,agree with your sentiments,I once read many years ago she was one of the few popular singers with perfect pitch.

Thanks TEXAS, for the sad news, on Jo stafford's passing, a great lady and a wonderful talent. I probably saw the group you mentioned and I do remember Benny Green the musician and writer, (not to be confused with Benny Green the American jazz pianist.) If anybody's interested he also authored a book, I believe his son did also, honoring his late father. Ronny Scott was well known for his dry sense of humour. I have 2 Cd's of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra recorded at 'Ronny Scotts'. A lot of the title tracks are dedicated to Scott's own one liners, (to numerous to mention here) but just to wet the appetite try 'The Chef's Rash Has Cleared Up Nicely' or '50,000 Flies Can't Be Wrong.'

Regarding the writing of the late Benny Green. He did two or three books, including a bio', but his best to my mind is 'The Reluctant Art', written in 1962. It consists of six pieces on, arguably, some of the most important figures in jazz, Benny Goodman, Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie Holliday, and Art Tatum. Being out of print in this country you have to go on Amazon and get it from the U.S. but it's worth having. Speaking for myself I didn't always agree with some of the stuff he wrote and broadcast but whatever it was it was minimal. For instance I remember him criticizing some early Bing Crosby performances and I nearly went apesh*t because I absolutely love early Crosby. Still, what the hell.
I'm totally with you Buck on the Diane Krall business. I got a couple of CD's of hers, one of them has a few covers of early Nat Cole Trio stuff, and one of the tracks is the tune '42nd Street'. It's a rather hackneyed show tune but she finds stuff in it to give it a fresh feel, she gets into the minors and it becomes rather menacing. Like you wouldn't want to be walking around there early morning.

Another good man gone, Johnny Griffin. One of the fastest tenors on the planet.

I've got to blow some life into this so I'm going to ask you all , what got you interested in the music in the first place. Was it a record, a live performance, or what? Mainly though, DO YOU STILL LISTEN?

Hi Texas,

Do you remember in the early 50's, there used to be slot machines containing a puppet jazz band? When you put your 1d in, it would play you the Peewee Hunt version of Twelfth Street Rag - that is what set me off. I just couldn't get enough of it and in about 1953, I would have been 14, I started going to The City Hall to experience this great music. I had no interest in the Hit Parade, as pop was called in those days. I progressed when I was in the 6th form at Nether Edge, to playing with a newly formed trad band called The Eclipse after which, I took over on bass with The Gloryland. I also sat in on several occasions with the police jazz band, aptly called The West Barbarians. I was, at that time, Sheffield correspondant for Jazz News.

Yes I am still interested in Jazz but have now broadened my horizons to include modern.

Mike

Did anyone watch the documentary on Ella Fitzgerald on the TV tonight?

What a voice and a lovely person to go with it.

Happy Memories and Happy Days Indeed

PopT

First thanks for answering. As you may deduct, jazz is a subject close to my soul. I've got to think though,Puffin4, that's the most bizzare introduction to jazz I've heard. Those slot machines must be much sought after among collectors.
But Pee Wee Hunt must've turned a lot onto the music with that record. Have you heard it lately? I heard the 'B' side a few months ago, 'Somebody Else not Me', and it sounded quite fresh.
My own introduction to jazz goes back to around the mid-thirties, I was only a kid, but all the family played an instrument of some kind and it came with the territory. My earliest memorys musically speaking, were of someone singing, on a record 'Cuban Pete' (he's the king of the Rhumba beat), which started my love of Latino stuff, and hearing that 'Snakehips' Johnson had got killed in and air raid. After that it was 'hit parade' and Bing Crosby, until my Uncle introduced me to the book 'We called it Music' by Eddie Condon. That was about 1945. My life was ruined from then on. Mind you, I still dig early Crosby in spades.
I didn't see that programme featuring Ella Fitzgerald PopT, actually that's the second one I've missed of late. She's one of the greatest vocalists of all time, and not just in my opinion.

Hi Texas,

As it happens, that was the first record that I bought, I then had to buy an old wind up gramaphone from the rag and louse to play it on. Sadly the record, which I think was on Columbia, didn't stand the test of time but I do still have that track on cd - it's not quite the same without the scratches though.

Being somewhat your junior (born in 39) my earliest musical memories were the kind of things that were on the radio in the war so I have a very strong affinity with dance bands from that era also Al Bowley et al. My Mum was a music teacher so all I inherited from her was a liking for the classics. During my service in the RAF (22 years) I played with a voluntary military band so I am also quite fond of brass.

Mike

I enjoyed singing and the music we got at school, when I was in the Lifeboys and Boys Brigade, I enjoyed the military style music that we marched too, we got to sing at the meetings and I liked most of that. I enjoyed the radio and seeing live entertainment and the upbeat music that seemed to accompany these pastimes. By my early teens I had definite likes and dislikes in music, I certainly did'nt know what jazz was, my dad loved to sing and whistle to the radio and I think it rubbed off on me. When I started going to the dances at the Astoria Ballroom Attercliffe I probably would have been approx 15 or 16yrs old, I think it was then that I took notice of what was being played. As I recall the leader of the small band there was a Jack 'somebody or other,' he played drums, I don't think he was that good but he had these few good players just out of the forces who liked to play these Bebop tunes, (e.g. East of the Sun, How High the Moon also Miles's Move and Israel, Shearing's September in the Rain and so on.) When somebody explained what commercial music was to me, I knew it was the type of music I did'nt like anyway. When I went in the local hangout/snackbar and spotted 'Budo and Boplicity' on the 2d Jukebox (78rpm machine,) I realised I had heard these before at the Saturday dance. As TEXAS likes to say 'and the rest is history.' By the time I went in the Forces at 18yrs I had devoured everything jazz I could find, I knew it was going be a major part of my life forever. It has and still is, although I have grown too appreciate a few other things along the way.

Oh boy! Twenty two years in the R.A.F. Makes us time wasting NS men ashamed.
But this is a jazz thread. You mention Al Bowly, It's a coincidence but a few weeks ago I watched 'The Shining' for the umpteenth time, and I reckon, during one of Jack Nicholson's visits to the 'haunted' hotel bar, the voice you hear singing with the band, is our Al. Next time you get a chance to watch the movie, see what you think.
It's interesting to read other people's introduction to jazz,but like I say, it seemed to be always there in some form or other in my own experiences. I always was susceptible to current fashions, and after the 'swing' era had almost disapeared 'Twelfth St Rag' came as a revelation. But as soon as that arrived, one of the jazz police in my family said 'You should listen to this.' 'This' turned out to be 'Maple Leaf Rag' by Sydney Bechet. I had never heard anything like that record, I couldn't believe anyone could play like that. Anyhow that was another milestone in my musical education.
Another was my introduction to Bop. My Uncle, a pianist, stride, boogie, very good, the jazz cop in my life, played in a little dance band. The band leader, a trumpet player, a clever fellow, wrote some parts out for the band from records. My uncle was struggling with this arrangement called 'Marmaduke'. 'Bloody Hell.' he said. 'It's 'Honeysuckle Rose.' To this day I dont know how that trumpet playing bandleader of my uncle's got hold of the record of a Charlie Parker's 'Marmaduke', but he did.

Re Jack Jackson, wasnt his sat night program called Jack Jacksons record roundup?
Any one remember Radio Rythmn club on i think the bbc.During the early forties.Yes i am getting on a bit but i have an elder brother jazz fan whow started me off at the age of ten bless him. Im pretty sure this was on sat nights too a few years before JJ but i stand corrected.

Did anyone watch the documentary on Ella Fitzgerald on the TV tonight?

What a voice and a lovely person to go with it.

Happy Memories and Happy Days Indeed

PopT

Yes it was brilliant.

Does Harry Parry and his Sextet ring any bells Chris H ?

I have just read the Obit of Peter Glossop Operatic Baritone.
I knew he was English but I had no idea he was born in Sheffield.
It said after he completed his NS he worked in a bank , he and some friends formed a 'Jazz Band'
This was in Sheffield .
Did anyone know him?

Apparently not Sweedex, all lowbrow on here. Although I do like Maria Callas myself. Whenever I hear her I usually say to myself 'What a loss to jazz.' Such warmth and passion and depth, even in the higher register.

Does Harry Parry and his Sextet ring any bells Chris H ?
It seems I read somewhere that that George Shearing played with the Harry Parry Sextet in the early 40's. I think they were a highly thought of good band. Does anybody remember the 'Hedley Ward Trio' and the 'Malcolm Mitchell Trio'? (hope I got the latter name right.) They were both class acts known for their musicianship.

anybody remember the 'Hedley Ward Trio

Didn't they do the musical interlude for one of the radio comedy shows?.
I can hear the announcer now "And now the Hedley Ward Trio"

I think they were on 'Educating Archie', did a Page Kavanagh type act, piano, bass , guitar.
I don't remember any of their names though, except maybe the guitar player Jack McKechnie, not sure about that though.
But weren't they all in a big band or something?

Some of the early Hollywood Musicals had little interludes where the star would gather around a piano with other musicians and sing some little fast number, usually with the piano,guitar and bass format and sometimes a clarinet or accordian thrown in for good measure. Page Kavanagh might have headed a few of these sessions, I think there were others also.

Actually I think it's Paige Cavanaugh. I used to think his trio was original, until I found out that it was a clone of Nat Cole's trio. Still enjoyed his act though. Another major influence could've been Charles Brown, then again he was influenced by the 'King' also. In other words Nat 'King' Cole had a lot to answer for. Anymore? Ray Charles for instance, another one was somebody Moody. Played accordian, but still did that close trio singing style.
The first time I saw the PK trio was in a movie featuring Doris Day, Jack Carson et al.

Actually I think it's Paige Cavanaugh. I used to think his trio was original, until I found out that it was a clone of Nat Cole's trio. Still enjoyed his act though. Another major influence could've been Charles Brown, then again he was influenced by the 'King' also. In other words Nat 'King' Cole had a lot to answer for. Anymore? Ray Charles for instance, another one was somebody Moody. Played accordian, but still did that close trio singing style.
The first time I saw the PK trio was in a movie featuring Doris Day, Jack Carson et al.
You have got to listen to (if you hav'nt aleady) John Pizzarelli, I think he has added a drummer now but has played with different formats over the years. I have two CD's of his 'The Rare Delight of You' John Pizzarelli with The George Shearing Quintet and John Pizzarelli Trio 'Live at Birdland'. He's got other CD's out, one featuring Nats songs, also a Bossa Nova one among others. He sometimes appears with Symphony Orchestras and other times he's on the Jazz Festival circuit. I have seen them live and they are great, they are a class act which reminds one of concerts of the 40's 50's and 60's in that the group's attire is smart, he is funny and does a few musical impressions, his song style is unique. He plays guitar, he sings and scats along with his own playing, reminiscent and not unlike what Slam Stewart did with his 'Bass' (theres a blast from the past.) Wish I could send you a track or two, although I don't think it's legal and I would'nt know how to do it anyway.

There is a Bravo TV concert of him at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
His phizog so reminded me of someone else. but for the life of me I cannot remember who it was.
His dad was pretty good too

Facially he reminds me of a certain Lonnie Donegan. I must emphasize facially. His playing is a bit tasty though. Any idea what guitar he plays, sounds like a semi-solid to me. Great player.

Thanks sweetdexter and Texas for the imput. His 'Live at Birdland' CD has got the most technical infomation i've ever seen, even down to the make of Italian suits he wears and just for the record (no pun intended,) he playes a 'custom 7-string MOLL guitar fitted with LaBELLA tape wound strings through an ULTRASOUND amplifier.' There you had to ask. I wonder if the Bravo concert is available commercially? I shall check that out and it might just be the first DVD on my new surround system. If it's relevent, (always with an eye on the comedy effect) he's brilliant at musical interpretations and impressions of singers and their pop songs (i.e.James Taylor comes to mind.) Incidently he 'would' have done a very funny and hilarious version of 'My Old Mans a Dustman' i'm sure, if given the chance.

Now you've got me. When I messed around with guitar there were either 6 or 12 string instruments. Now we have a 7. What's the extra string tuning and where does it go? The usual tuning used to be E,A,D,G,B,E, I think Sweedex played sometime or other, perhaps he'll know. I've lost touch with all the innovations in instrument manufacture, for instance some brass instruments nearly play themselves nowadays, and if you get a really virtuoso performer, well, the sky's the limit. Wynton Marsalis for instance.

Texas, I know where you are coming from, most hand held string instruments (like guitars) were in multiples of two. Now i'm really going to blow you away, a lot of modern bassists to-day play 5-string models, (probably not the traditional double bass though.)