Scan Tester

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Scan Tester
Birth nameLewis Tester
Born(1887-09-07)7 September 1887
Chelwood Gate,
melodeon
, fiddle

Lewis "Scan" Tester (7 September 1887 – May 1972)[1] was an English folk and English country musician.[2]

Overview

Lewis Tester was born in Chelwood Gate, near

pub
, the Green Man at Horsted Keynes he learned step-dancing. He danced and played at weddings, harvest suppers and pubs with his elder brother and other local musicians.

Gypsies and jazz

When visiting the hop fields of

First World War he formed a "jazz band" - that is a country dance band that included a full drum kit. It was called Tester's Imperial Band.[2] He hired rooms and taught the dances - quadrilles, schottisches, polkas, and the like - before the dance started. His brother Trayton, brought a bandoneon back from Germany after the First World War. It was an oversized concertina, with a full deep sound, excellent for un-amplified playing. By the 1950s the instrument was no longer manufactured. For over forty years, Tester played at the Stone Quarry pub at Chelwood Gate.[2]
He was one of the last to play the old-time tunes.

An elderly celebrity

Reg Hall was active in the 1950s, collecting tunes and encouraging traditional musicians. Hall met Tester in 1957, after Mervyn Plunkett discovered Tester and brought him to the attention of Hall.

Rod Stradling heard him play, he was inspired to form a series of bands to play the old style music. Of these, the Old Swan Band
still thrives.

The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten has a picture of Scan with Reg Hall on the cover and Jenny Lind played with Rabbidy Baxter from the album Boscastle Breakdown is track ten of the seventh CD in the set.

Tester's death was reported in the Mid Sussex Times on 11 May 1972.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Duke, Will (2015). "Lewis 'Scan' Tester". Sussex Traditions. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  2. ^
    ISBN 1-85227-937-0
    .
  3. ISSN 0265-5063
    . Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  4. ^ ""Scan" Tester dies". Mid-Sussex Times. 11 May 1972. Retrieved 18 November 2022.

External links

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