All Topics  
Ken Colyer

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Ken Colyer
 
 
  Topics Ken Colyer Topic Home

Kenneth 'Edward' Colyer (18 April 1928 – 8 March 1988) was a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz]]. His band was also known for skiffle
Skiffle

Skiffle is a type of folk music with jazz, blues and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments such as the washboard, tea chest bass, kazoo, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw, comb and paper, and so forth, as well as more conventional instruments such as Steel-string guitar and banjo....
 interludes.

rew up in Soho
Soho

Soho is an area in the centre of the West End of London of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and was a member of a church choir. When his older brother Bill (born William John Colyer in 1922 — still alive) went off to serve in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 he left his jazz records behind, which hooked Ken.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Ken Colyer'
Start a new discussion about 'Ken Colyer'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Kenneth 'Edward' Colyer (18 April 1928 – 8 March 1988) was a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz]]. His band was also known for skiffle
Skiffle

Skiffle is a type of folk music with jazz, blues and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments such as the washboard, tea chest bass, kazoo, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw, comb and paper, and so forth, as well as more conventional instruments such as Steel-string guitar and banjo....
 interludes.

Biography

He grew up in Soho
Soho

Soho is an area in the centre of the West End of London of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and was a member of a church choir. When his older brother Bill (born William John Colyer in 1922 — still alive) went off to serve in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 he left his jazz records behind, which hooked Ken. He joined the Merchant Navy at 17, travelled around the world and heard famous jazz musicians in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 and Montreal
Montreal

Montreal, or Montr?al, is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada of Quebec and the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population....
.

In the UK he played with various bands and joined, in 1949, the Crane River Jazz Band (CRJB) with Ben Marshall, Sonny Morris and Monty Sunshine
Monty Sunshine

Monty Sunshine , is a former clarinetist whose main claim to fame was on "Petite Fleur", a clarinet solo that was a million seller for the Chris Barber band in 1959....
. The band played at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900 seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge....
 on 14 July 1951, in the presence of HRH Princess Elizabeth
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
.

Parts of that group merged with other musicians including Keith Christie
Keith Christie

Keith Ronald Christie was an English jazz trombonist. He was the brother of Ian Christie.Christie began playing at age 14, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama....
 and Ian Christie
Ian Christie

Ian Christie is an English jazz clarinetist, best known for playing in a number of trad jazz ensembles of the 1950s.Christie's brother was Keith Christie, a noted trombonist who died in 1980....
 to form the Christie Brothers' Stompers. Ken rejoined the Merchant Navy and jumped ship to get to New Orleans where he played with his idols in the George Lewis
George Lewis (clarinetist)

George Lewis was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his greatest fame and influence in the later decades of his life.Born in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, his legal name was, George Louis Francois Zenon....
 Band where he was offered the job of lead trumpeter on a tour but was then put in prison and deported. Bill posted his famous letters from New Orleans on the door of Dobell's Jazz Record Shop—so he returned home to a crusader's welcome.

He was invited to take the trumpet lead for the Chris Barber Band
Chris Barber

Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist....
 and so formed the first Ken Colyer Jazzmen: Chris Barber
Chris Barber

Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist....
, Monty Sunshine
Monty Sunshine

Monty Sunshine , is a former clarinetist whose main claim to fame was on "Petite Fleur", a clarinet solo that was a million seller for the Chris Barber band in 1959....
, Ron Bowden (born Ronald Arthur Bowden, 22 February 1928, in Fulham
Fulham

Fulham is an area of south-west London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, located south west of Charing Cross. It is situated in between Putney and Chelsea, London....
, South West London
South West London

South West London could refer to:*SW postcode area*western part of South London*South West ...
), Lonnie Donegan
Lonnie Donegan

Lonnie Donegan Order of the British Empire was a skiffle musician, possibly the most famous of them all, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name....
 and Jim Bray (born James Michael Bray, 24 April 1927, in Richmond, Surrey
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
). They made their first recordings on Storyville
Storyville Records

Storyville Records is a Denmark based record label founded in 1950 in music by Karl Emil Knudsen, a jazz record collector, then working for the Copenhagen telephone company....
 in 1953.

The next, brief, band in the mid-50s featured Bernard "Acker" Bilk
Acker Bilk

Acker Bilk Order of the British Empire , born Bernard Stanley Bilk , is a clarinetist. He is known for his trademark goatee, bowler hat, striped waistcoat and his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register clarinet style....
 on clarinet.

Then came what most young, now old, fans ("when I was young and easy under the apple boughs" Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh people poet who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself....
) consider their favourite in all of Ken's oeuvre: Mac Duncan (trombone), Ian Wheeler (clarinet), Johnny Bastable (banjo), Ron Ward (bass) and the still remarkable Colin Bowden (drums), later joined by Ray Foxley
Ray Foxley

Raymond Geoffrey 'Ray' Foxley was a jazz pianist who played with Ken Colyer and Chris Barber.Ray ?began his musical career at the age of 14, when he took his first straight music lessons....
 (piano). This band played together until the early 1960s when the new front-line featured, at various times, Sammy Rimington
Sammy Rimington

Samuel 'Sammy' Rimington , is an English jazz reed player born in London. He has been an active Dixieland jazz revivalist since the late 1950s....
 and Tony Pyke (clarinet), Graham Stewart and Geoff Cole (trombone), Bill Cole (bass) and Malc Murphy (drums).

In 1971, after a bout with stomach cancer
Stomach cancer

Stomach or gastric cancer can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs and the liver....
, Ken took his doctors' advice to stop leading a band.

He continued with a solo career into the 1980s. He had a row with Bill at the 100 Club, threw his trumpet down on the stage a la Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson

Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s....
 and moved to the south of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 in his last years. He felt that he was let down by everybody throughout his life.

Lake Records was started by a reissue programme of Ken Colyer albums (from the Decca
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 catalogue) and the current catalogue contains most of his best recordings.

Ken was sometimes seen as a kind of musical Luddite
Luddite

The Luddites were a social movement of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland textile artisans in the early nineteenth century who protested—often by destroying mechanized looms—against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work....
, opposed to all progress in jazz. It is true that, for himself, he only ever wished to play in the New Orleans style but he was more open than many people thought as was shown by his record collection and his playing of the tenor sax. He famously played with the Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet

The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955....
 and "they did it my way".

His biography is being written by Mike Pointon (trombonist, musicologist, broadcaster extraordinnaire) and ragtime pianist Ray Smith (who played at St Paul's Covent Garden for the Celebration Service) and will be published by the Ken Colyer Trust—set up on Ken's death to preserve the music and publish his autobiography When Dreams are in the Dust now on their website—next year

Discography

It is believed by some that Ken peaked so early and then gradually burnt himself away ("he was a fool to himself"—Sonny Morris) so his best recordings were in his early years with the CRJB and in New Orleans, followed by the Christie Brothers Stompers ('Rum & Coca Cola').

Singles

  • "Just a Closer Walk with Thee", Tempo Records
    Tempo Records

    Tempo Records may refer to:* Tempo Records , a United States based company.* Tempo Records , a United Kingdom based company.* Tempo Records , an Australian based company,...
    , A 117, 1956
  • "If I Ever Cease to Love", Tempo Records, A 120, 1956


Albums

  • Decca Skiffle Sessions, Lake Records, LACD 7, ?
  • Live at York Arts Centre (1972), Upbeat, URCD 210, ?
  • The Crane River Jazz Band
  • Club Session with Colyer


External links