Kenneth Colyer (18 April 1928 – 8 March 1988) was an
English jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted to New Orleans jazz. His band was
also known for skiffle interludes.
He was born in Great Yarmouth but grew up in Soho, London
and served as a member of his church choir. When his elder brother Bill
(1922—2009) went off to serve in World War II he left his jazz records behind,
which influenced Ken. He joined the Merchant Navy at 17, travelled around the
world and heard famous jazz musicians in New York and Montreal.
In the UK, Colyer played with various bands and joined,
in 1949, the Crane River Jazz Band (CRJB) with Ben Marshall, Sonny Morris, Pat
Hawes, John R. T. Davies, Julian Davies, Ron Bowden and Monty Sunshine. The
band played at the Royal Festival Hall on 14 July 1951 in the presence of HRH
Princess Elizabeth. Parts of that group merged with other musicians including
Keith Christie and Ian Christie to form the Christie Brothers' Stompers.
Colyer rejoined the Merchant Navy, jumped ship in Mobile,
Alabama, and travelled to New Orleans, where he played with his idols in George
Lewis' band. He was offered the job of lead trumpeter on a tour, but was caught
by the authorities, detained and deported.
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). They made their first recordings on Storyville
in 1953. The next, brief, band in the mid-1950s featured Bernard
"Acker" Bilk on clarinet.
Beginning in 1954, Colyer split his time between leading
trad jazz groups as a trumpeter and skiffle groups as a guitarist, recording
frequently for English Decca. Colyer's melodic Bunk Johnson-influenced lead
trumpet gave his jazz bands a distinctive flavor of their own, while his
skiffle groups had a "blacker" sound than those of most English
skifflers, grounded in the Leadbelly 78s that Colyer brought back from New York
when he was 19.
In January 1963, 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.
He retired eventually to France where he hoped to teach
music. However, it was to be short lived: he died quietly in his sleep on 8th
March 1988, possibly from a severe heart attack. Ken was cremated in France and
his ashes scattered in the Channel close to the French shore. A trust has since been established to carry on
his musical legacy and distribute his recordings. (Info mainly edited from Wikipedia
& All Music)
Ken Colyer with Monty Sunshine´s Jazzband 1981 in Hamburg
1 comment:
For Ken Colyer – 1956 go here;
http://www57.zippyshare.com/v/oHo0solu/file.html
1. Dippermouth Blues -
2. All the Girls Go Crazy
3. Maryland, My Maryland
4. The World Is Waiting For The Sunshine
5. Uptown Bumps
6. Blame It On the Blues
7. Creole Song
8. Chrysanthemum Rag
9. Snag It
10. Thriller Rag
11. Black Cat On A Fence
12. The Old Rugged Cross
13. Walking With the King
14. Home Sweet Home - Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart
15. Old Riley
16. Down Bound Train
17. Stack O' Lee Blues
18. Muleskinner Blues
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