Cab Kaye
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Cab Kaye | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Nii-lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye |
Also known as | Cab Quaye, Cab Quay, Kwamlah Quaye, Kwamla Quaye, Nii Lante Quaye, Kab Kay |
Born | London, England | 3 September 1921
Origin | Camden, London, England |
Died | 13 March 2000 Amsterdam, The Netherlands | (aged 78)
Genres | Jazz, blues |
Occupation(s) | Singer, musician, composer |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar, drums |
Years active | 1936–96 |
Nii-lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye (3 September 1921 – 13 March 2000), known professionally as Cab Kaye, was an English jazz singer and pianist of Ghanaian descent.[1] He combined blues, stride piano, and scat with his Ghanaian heritage.
Youth
Cab Kaye, also known as Cab Quay, Cab Quaye and Kwamlah Quaye, was born on
When Kaye was four months old, his father was killed in a railway accident in Blisworth, Northamptonshire, on 27 January 1922, on his way to perform in a concert.[2] Kaye, his mother, and his sister Norma moved to Portsmouth, where a life insurance policy provided temporary financial support.[3] Between the ages of nine and twelve he spent three years in hospital while a tumor in his neck was irradiated. British radiation therapy was still in its infancy, and Kaye's treatment was experimental. A scar remained on the left side of his neck.
His first instruments were timpani, introduced to him by a Canadian soldier who taught him how to count and use the mallets. At fourteen, Kaye began to visit nightclubs where black musicians were welcome, such as The Shim Sham and The Nest; he won first prize in a song contest, a tour with the Billy Cotton band.[1] During this tour, he met the African-American trombonist and tap dancer Ellis Jackson. Jackson convinced Cotton to engage Kaye as an assistant and as a singer in his band. Engaged as a tap dancer with Billy Cotton's show band in 1936, Kaye recorded his first song, "Shoe Shine Boy", under the name Cab Quay.
The war years
During 1937, Kaye played drums and percussion with Doug Swallow and his band in April, the Hal Swain Band in the summer, and Alan Green's band in September in
While on leave from the Merchant Navy, Kaye sang with Don Mario Barretto in London. His ship was hit by a torpedo in the Pacific Ocean in 1942. He was saved, but the convoy continued to be attacked by enemy ships, and during the following three nights two other ships were sunk. These experiences stayed with him for the rest of his life. En route to an Army hospital in New York he was hurt when his plane crashed before landing. While recuperating in New York, he went to concerts and played in clubs in
After the war
In 1946, Cab Kaye sang for the British troops in Egypt and India with Leslie "Jiver" Hutchinson's "All Coloured Band". After that, he performed as a singer and entertainer in Belgium. In 1947, he returned to London to sing in the bands of guitarist Vic Lewis, trombonist, Ted Heath, accordionist Tito Burns,[1] and the band Jazz in the Town Hall. That year, he was voted number thirteen by readers of Melody Maker in their annual jazz poll.
From 1948 he performed mainly as leader of his bands, such as the Ministers of Swing with saxophonists
In this period he also led Cab Kaye and his Coloured Orchestra and co-led The Cabinettes with Ronnie Ball, featuring "blues singer" Mona Baptiste from Trinidad. Both bands played regularly in the Fabulous Feldman Club (100 Oxford Street, London), featuring Kaye on electric guitar. Kaye's band was, in 1948, the first musical ensemble featuring people of colour to play in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. With his All Coloured Band,[7] featuring Dave Wilkins, Henry Shalofsky (Hank Shaw) and Sam Walker, Cab Kaye then toured in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in 1950 and 1951.
In Paris at the end of the 1940s early 1950s, Kaye met Tadd Dameron, who was playing with Miles Davis. Dameron gave Kaye his first and only piano lesson. In the Club St. Germain, Kaye played with guitarist Django Reinhardt, who had become more interested in bebop. Also in Paris, Kaye reunited with Roy Eldridge, who introduced him to Don Byas. The Ringside was frequented by such jazz musicians as Art Simmons, Annie Ross, James Moody, Pierre Michelot, and Babs Gonzales.
In 1950. Kaye played in the Netherlands. In March 1950, he performed in the Rotterdam club Parkzicht with jazz trumpeter Dave Wilkins from Barbados, Jamaican tenor saxophonist and clarinetist
The 1950s and Hot Sauce
Between December 1950 and May 1951, Kaye's Latin American Band was booked by Lou van Rees to tour France, Germany, and the Netherlands (where Kaye met Charlie Parker).[1] In the Netherlands, Kaye played in the newly opened Avifauna in Alphen aan den Rijn, the world's first bird park.
In 1951, Kaye played a small role in the movie Sensation in San Remo directed by
Kaye led multi-ethnic bands usually consisting of musicians from the UK, Africa, and the West Indies. Later that year he was in the revue Memories of Jolson,[9] a musical with sixteen-year-old Shirley Bassey. The show toured Scotland, but Kaye left after the first performance because he thought the show was racist.[10] He turned to variety shows, according to Melody Maker in 1953, and he founded a theatre booking agency, Black and White Productions, to book small theatre and film roles for himself and other musicians.[11] His career as a businessman was brief, and he returned to music.
In 1953, he worked with
Kaye performed in the
During one of his tours of England (20 September 1954), he sang with a band led by pianist
Also in 1956, Kaye played at the Sheherazade jazz club in Amsterdam's with his All Star Quintet consisting of Rob Pronk (piano), Toon van Vliet (tenor sax), Dub Dubois (bass) and drummer
Kaye performed in Cab's Quintet on the British BBC television program
In 1959, he joined the ensemble of Humphrey Lyttelton in London, which led to the recording of the album Humph Meets Cab (March 1960),[1] with his characteristic witty vocals on pieces such as "Let Love Lie Sleeping".[15]
The Manchester Evening News announced on 25 August 1960 that the next day's BBC TV Jazz Session was to feature the Dill Quintet, the Bob Wallis Storyville Jazzmen, and singer Cab Kaye.[16] In the same year, Kaye came ninth in Melody Maker's Jazz Poll.[17]
Swinging diplomat
On 6 March 1957, the
He discarded the Anglicized version of his name and called himself "Kwamlah Quaye", though some newspapers missed the "h". During the day he worked in the Ghanaian High Commission and at night in Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.[1] A farewell special, Swinging Diplomat, was broadcast by the BBC in August 1961.[19] A farewell party was organized in Ronnie Scott's club.
Before leaving for Ghana, Kaye and his Kwamlah Quaye Sextetto Africana recorded "Everything Is Go", the song he had written with William "Bill" Davis. With this band he made the first recordings in which he played guitar. This group consisted of Laurence Deniz, born in Cardiff in 1924 to a father from Cape Verde; Chris O'Brien, bongos, and Frank Holder, both from British Guiana (now Guyana) and served in the Royal Air Force (RAF); and Chris Ajilo on claves. "Everything Is Go" was a calypso tribute to American astronaut John Glenn. On 17 February 1962 Kaye received fourth place in the Melody Maker poll of jazz musicians. He left London with plans to work for the Ghanaian Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).[20] On arriving in Accra, he formed a duo with singer Mary Hyde, with whom he regularly performed in the Star and other hotels in Accra.
Kaye performed during a visit by
Politics
In the early 1960s the Ghanaian Ramblers Dance Band covered Kaye's highlife song "Beautiful Ghana" under the title "Work and Happiness". The song was released by Decca (West Africa) frequently played during Kwame Nkrumah's regime as part of the "Work and Happiness" political program.
Nkrumah was deposed in 1966 after a military coup, leaving Kaye and other supporters of the previous regime in a difficult situation. He had to explain his political views behind the "Work and Happiness" song.[22] His sister Norma was married to J. T. Nelson-Cole in Nigeria and offered Kaye a home base in Lagos. This was the end of Kaye's political career, but the Pan-Africanism of Kwame Nkrumah, calling for a politically united Africa, remained one of the few political ideals he supported for the rest of his life.
Beginning in 1965 he played in New York, Europe, and Africa. He was announced in New York under the name "Nii Lante Quaye" as a special act, as he was in a flyer announcing Cab Kaye as a guest artist in the show of Ed Nixon Jr. (Nick La Tour) in St. Stephan's Methodist Church, Broadway, on 22 May 1966. The show master Cab Kaye was announced in Ghanaian flyers of this time as "MC" (Master of Ceremony) Cab Kaye. He performed regularly on Ghanaian and Nigerian radio and television: on 16 November 1966 in It's Time for Show Biz with the Spree City Stompers from Berlin; on 6 January 1967 with "the Paramount Eight Dance Band" on Ghanaian television's Bandstand; and on 30 July 1967 as MC at the international pop festival in Accra. In May 1968, he performed with his nephews, the Nelson Cole brothers, in Lagos, and then touring through Nigeria. The Nelson Cole brothers were his sister Norma's sons, who formed the Soul Assembly with other artists. In 1996 Kaye played again in Lagos at the Federal Palace Hotel in a program including Fela Kuti and highlife bandleader Bobby Benson.
After his return to England in 1970, he discovered that his daughter
Amsterdam: Cab Kaye's Jazz Piano Bar
In the late 1970s, Kaye moved to Amsterdam and became a member of Buma/Stemra, the Dutch copyright organization that oversaw distribution of royalties, and the Dutch Association of Professional Improvising Musicians (BIM). In Amsterdam he performed with jazz musicians such as singer Babs Gonzales, flautist Wally Shorts, trombonist Bert Koppelaar, bassist Wilbur Little, and conductor Boy Edgar (in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw). In the early years in Amsterdam, he rented an apartment from jazz saxophonist Rosa King and became known on the local jazz scene.
He opened Cab Kaye's Jazz Piano Bar[1] in the centre of Amsterdam on 1 October 1979 at Beulingstraat 9, with his Dutch wife Jeannette. When not touring Poland, Portugal, and Iceland, he performed five nights a week in his Piano Bar, a meeting place for jazz musicians. Frequent visitors included Rosa King, Slide Hampton, saxophonist Aart Gisolf, guitarist Dirk-Jan "Bubblin" Toorop,[24] pianist David Mayer, singer Gerrie van der Klei, pianist Cameron Japp, Max Roach, Oscar Peterson, and Pia Beck. Kaye gave many concerts in the Netherlands, including several with Max "Teawhistle" Teeuwisse in Den Oever and four times at the North Sea Jazz Festival. The first North Sea Jazz Festival performance was with his Cab Kaye Quartet on 16 July 1978. The second was on 10 July 1981 with Akwaba Cab Kaye and his Afro Jazz. The third was in July 1982, accompanied by Aart Gisolf and Nippy Noya, and the last was as a soloist on 10 July 1983.
Kaye regularly performed at the Victoria Hotel, Amsterdam, in the second half of the 1980s. On 10 October 1987 he participated in the Night of
Private life
Although born in London, Kaye considered himself African. He was married three times, first in 1939 to Theresa Austin, a jazz singer and daughter of a sailor from Barbados. He and Theresa often performed together. The couple had two daughters, Terri Quaye (born 8 November 1940, Bodmin), Tanya Quaye, and a son, Caleb Quaye (born 1948, London).
Kaye met his second wife, a Nigerian named Evelyn, in the 1960s in Ghana. They moved back to England. After a brief affair in 1973 with Sharon McGowan, he had a son,
Kaye's third wife, Jeannette, was Dutch. After marrying, he settled in the Netherlands and became a Dutch citizen, living in Amsterdam.[1] In the 1990s, he was diagnosed with floor of mouth cancer (oral cancer) and lost the ability to speak. He died at the age of 78 on 13 March 2000. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the North Sea and in Accra.[citation needed]
Discography
As leader
- Cab Kaye and His Band, May 1951 (Astraschall)
- Cab Kaye acc. by the Gerry Moore Trio, 1 March 1952 (Esquire)
- Cab Kaye acc. by the Norman Burns Quintet, 17 May 1952 (Esquire)
- Cab Kaye with the Ken Moule Seven, 20 September 1954 (Esquire)
- Cab Kaye Trio, 23 December 1976, Today, (Riff Records, 1977)
- Cab Kaye Trio, 10 July 1981, Cab Kaye Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival 1981 (Philips)
- Cab Kaye live The Key, 20 August 1984 (Keytone)
- Cab Kaye, The Consul of Swing – Victoria Blues, 14 March 1986
- Cab Kaye in Iceland, 18 June 1986 (Icelandic national radio)
- Cab Kaye in Iceland & Africa on Ice, October 1996 (Icelandic national radio)
As sideman
- Billy Cotton and His Band, 27 August 1936 (Regal Zonophone)
- Billy Cotton & His Orchestra, A Nice Cup of Tea Volume 2, recorded 1936–1941 (Vocalion, 2001)
- Jazz at the Town Hall Ensemble, 30 March 1948 (Esquire)
- Keith Bird and The Esquire Six, 13 October 1949 (Esquire)
- Humphrey Lyttelton Quartet, 15 March 1960, Humph Meets Cab (Columbia)
- Humphrey Lyttelton and His Band, 30 March 1960 (Philips)
- Kwamlah Quaye Sextetto Africana (Melodisc, 1962)
- Kwamlah Quaye Sextetto Africana (Melodisc, 1962)
- Billy Cotton & His Band, Things I Love About the 40s, 16 June 1998
- Ginger Johnson & Friends, London Is the Place for Me, volume 4, 2006 (Honest Jon's)
- Billy Cotton & His Band, Wakey Wakey!, 6 September 2005 (Living Era)
- Humphrey Lyttelton and His Quartet Band featuring Cab Kaye, High Class 1959–60, 24 May 2011
- Kenny Ball's Jazzmen and Cab Kaye and His Quartet (Jazz Club – A BBC Programme, Complete as Broadcast in 1961), 28 September 2013 (DigitalGramophone, 2013)
References
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
- ^ "Wilson Railway Accidents". Purecollector.com.
- ^ "Cab Kaye: 1921-2000". Jazzhouse.org.
- ^ Melody Maker, 26 May 1973.
- ^ Melody Maker, December 1942 – "Torpedoed... Shipwrecked... Injured... But he met all the swing stars!"
- ISBN 978-0-8264-2389-4.
- ^ "Cab Kaye launches all-coloured band", Melody Maker, 12 March 1955, p. 11.
- ^ New Musical Express, 20 March 1953, "Cab Kaye gets Big Film Break".
- ^ Steve Voce, "Obituary: Cab Kaye", The Independent, 17 March 2000.
- ^ Obituary: Correction, The Independent, 14 July 2000.
- ^ Melody Maker, 26 March 1973.
- ^ Wilmer, Val (2 August 2008). "Josie Woods". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "Cab Kaye Gets Part in Moira Shearer Film", Melody Maker, No. 1073, 10 April 1954, pp. 8–9.
- ^ "Concerts & Package Tours : 1956-1967". www.bradfordtimeline.co.uk.
- ^ "Cab Kaye to sing with Humph band", Melody Maker, 28 November 1959, p. 20.
- ^ "Singer Cab Kaye in Jazz Session, BBC TV, 26 August 1960". Archived from the original on 24 September 2008.
- ^ Jazz Poll British Section Archived 11 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Melody Maker, 23 January 1960, p. 3.
- ^ Daily Mirror, 5 July 1961.
- ^ BBC Jazz Club, 3 August 1961, 22.40 pm.
- ^ Evening Standard, 14 August 1961.
- ^ Sunday Mirror, August 1961; Flamingo, 16 January 1962; "Ghana Jazz King peps up royal tour".
- ^ Evening News, 12 October 1966
- ^ "Music: Theresa 'Terri' Quaye aka Theresa Naa-Koshie", Ghana Rising, 18 April 2011.
- ^ "Dirk Jan "Bubbles" Toorop". bubblintoorop.nl. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ Nederlands Jazz Archief; Pim Gras & Herman Openneer; Bimhuis – 8 September 1996; Cab Kaye 75 years.
- ^ "Finley weeps for 'lost' dad; Pop star's grief after reunion", The Mirror, 22 April 2000.
Further reading
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2019) |
- ISBN 1-84353-256-5.
- John Chilton, "Cab Kaye" in Who's Who of British Jazz
- Pim Gras, "The Cab Kaye Story", NJA Bulletin, No. 37 (September 2000), pp. 17–18.
- Larmes. "Cab Kaye", Jazz Hot, No. 573 (September 2000), p. 6.
- Rainer E. Lotz, "Cab Kaye". Grove Jazz online
- The Mandrake Club and Cab Kaye...
- Jack Martin, "Introducing Cab Kaye", in Anglo-German Swing Club News Sheet, No. 10 (August 1950) (F); reprinted in Horst Ansin, Marc Dröscher, Jürgen Foth & Gerhard Klußmeier (eds): Anglo-German Swing Club. Als der Swing zurück nach Hamburg kam... Dokumente 1945–1952, Hamburg: Dölling & Galitz Verlag, 2003, pp. 231–232.
- Laurie Morgan, "Cab Kaye", Jazz at Ronnie Scott's, No. 124 (May/June 2000), p. 12.
- Obituary – Cadence, v. 26, no. 7, July 2000.
- Obituary – Jazz Journal International, v. 53, no. 6, June 2000.
- Obituary – NJA Bulletin, No. 36 (June 2000), p. 18.
- Obituary – The Times, London, 27 March 2000
- "An Exhuberant Voice in British Jazz", Tribute – Jazz House
- Val Wilmer, "Cab Kaye. Musician who enlivened the British jazz scene and rediscovered his African roots", The Guardian, 21 March 2000.
- Val Wilmer, Obituaries. Cab Kaye, Jazz Journal, 53/6 (June 2000), pp. 15, 53.