Ken Colyer

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Ken Colyer
New Orleans jazz
Occupation(s)Instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Trumpet, cornet
Years active1940s–1980s

Kenneth Colyer (18 April 1928 – 8 March 1988) was an English

New Orleans jazz.[1] His band was also known for skiffle interludes.[2]

Biography

He was born in

Merchant Navy at 17, travelled around the world and heard famous jazz musicians in New Orleans, Louisiana.[1]

In the UK, Colyer played with various bands and joined, in 1949, the Crane River Jazz Band (CRJB),

Merchant Navy, jumped ship in Mobile, Alabama, and travelled to New Orleans, where he played with his idols in George Lewis' band.[1] He was offered the job of lead trumpeter on a tour, but was caught by the authorities, detained and deported.[1]

Colyer was invited to take the trumpet lead for the Chris Barber Band and so formed the first line-up of Ken Colyer's Jazzmen: Chris Barber, Monty Sunshine, Ron Bowden (born Ronald Arthur Bowden, 22 February 1928, Fulham, London), Lonnie Donegan and Jim Bray (born James Michael Bray, 24 April 1927, Richmond, Surrey).[1] They made their first recordings on Storyville in 1953. Colyer and the others parted company in 1954, each claiming in later years to have fired the other.[1] The next, brief, band in the mid-1950s featured Bernard "Acker" Bilk on clarinet and Ed O'Donnell on trombone.[1]

Then followed Colyer's band with what is seen today as its classic line-up: Mac Duncan (trombone), Ian Wheeler (clarinet), Johnny Bastable (banjo), Ron Ward (bass) and Colin Bowden (drums), later joined by Ray Foxley (piano). This band played together until the early 1960s when the new front-line featured, at various times, Sammy Rimington and Tony Pyke (clarinet), Graham Stewart and Geoff Cole (trombone), Bill Cole (bass) and Malc Murphy (drums). In January 1959, the British music magazine NME reported that the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain had taken place at Alexandra Palace. The event included George Melly, Diz Disley, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Alex Welsh, Monty Sunshine, Bob Wallis, Bruce Turner, Mick Mulligan and Colyer.[3]

In 1963 the Colyer band starred under their own name in the film, West 11.

In 1972, after a bout with

Lake Records was started by re-issuing Colyer albums (from the Decca catalogue) and the current catalogue contains most of his best recordings.[citation needed
]

A biography, Goin' Home (published 2010), was compiled by Mike Pointon and Ray Smith. It won an accolade from the House of Commons Jazz Society in May 2011. A year after Colyer's death a group of family members, friends and musicians met at the

Ken Clarke.[4]

Discography

Singles

Ken Colyer's Jazzmen

EPs

  • Ken Colyer in New Orleans, (Vogue, 1953)
  • Ken Colyer's Jazzmen (Tempo, 1953)
  • They All Played Ragtime (Decca, 1958)
  • And Back to New Orleans (Decca)

Albums

  • Decca Skiffle Sessions,
    Lake
  • The Lost 1954 Royal Festival Hall Tapes, (Upbeat Jazz, 2004)
  • More Lost 1954 Royal Festival Hall Tapes, (Upbeat Jazz, 2008)
  • Live at York Arts Centre (Upbeat, 1972)
  • The Crane River Jazz Band
  • Club Session with Colyer (Decca, 1956)
  • Studio 51 Club Sessions with Colyer (Upbeat, 1972)
  • Out of Nowhere (KC, 1965)
  • Back to the Delta (Decca, 1954)
  • New Orleans to London (Lake, 1953)
  • Marching to New Orleans (Decca, 1957)
  • Marching Back to New Orleans (Lake, 1955/57)
  • This is Jazz (Columbia, 1959)
  • Sensation – The Decca Years (Lake, 1955–59)
  • The Classic Years 1957) Upbeat

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-85227-745-9
    .
  2. ^ Profile, Music.guardian.co.uk; accessed 1 June 2008.
  3. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London, UK: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 116. CN 5585.
  4. ^ "Westminster City Council - Green Plaques Scheme". 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2019.

External links

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