Ray Foxley
Encyclopedia
Raymond Geoffrey 'Ray' Foxley (December 28, 1928 in Birmingham
, England
– July 6, 2002 in London
, England
) 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. Pianoforte rudiments did not hold any great fascination for him, however, and after about 18 months he abandoned with relief this preliminary excursion into the musical world.
It was about 2 years later that, attracted by a boogie record, he went out and bought the sheet music of Cow-Cow Boogie, upon which much time and energy was expended. That was the beginning.
Fortunately, his musical evolution was speedier than most, and he soon began to dig the righteous stuff. Graduating through the Fats Waller stage, and fortified by a few months syncopation lessons, (to get that bass) he began to acquire a truer perspective of the real jazz, and an increasing desire to play it. Academic tuition was now a thing of the past - records became his source of instruction.
Then came the day when he first heard Jelly Roll Morton’ s King Porter Stomp. That did it. Ever since then he has worshipped at the Morton shrine, and nowadays he is the purest “purist” you could hope to meet (or avoid).
His association with various small bands began a long way back, and right from the early days his relentlessly righteous outlook has proved a bone of contention between him and the more commercially-minded of his fellow musicians.
But he stuck to his beliefs and almost achieved his ideal band in the Gutbucket Six, a group whose unfortunate disintegration on the brink of success was brought about by the call-up.
He is an implicit believer in the Morton principles of melody, variety, and originality in order to achieve the best results. And, above all, what counts with him is sincerity. That is why the Armstrong, Oliver, Morton, Bessie creed is to him the ultimate in jazz, and why he still holds a great admiration for Fats, for those are the musicians whom true artistry is infinitely more important than technical virtuosity.
His band repertoire of 150 or so pieces is composed almost entirely of New Orleans standards, while his solo repertoire consists mainly of Jelly Roll’s blues and stomps, Joplin rags, and a few opf his own compositions, the latter showing that Jelly’s maxim of originality has not fallen on stony ground.
His greatest achievement to date? When he played Shreveport Stomp in an otherwise strictly classical competition, and missed first place by only one mark.
The above was written by Ray Foxley when he was 19 for the programme notes of “Jazz at the Birmingham Town Hall” presented by Louis Brunton in conjunction with the Hot Club of London on Saturday, June 14th, 1947. Ray’s band, the Gutbucket Six shared the stage with George Webb’s Dixielanders, Bill Bramwell, the Humphrey Lyttelton-Wally Fawkes quartet, and the concert was compered by James Asman.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
– July 6, 2002 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) was a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist who played with Ken Colyer
Ken Colyer
Kenneth Colyer was a British jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.-Biography:...
and Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
.
Ray “began his musical career at the age of 14, when he took his first straight music lessons. Pianoforte rudiments did not hold any great fascination for him, however, and after about 18 months he abandoned with relief this preliminary excursion into the musical world.
It was about 2 years later that, attracted by a boogie record, he went out and bought the sheet music of Cow-Cow Boogie, upon which much time and energy was expended. That was the beginning.
Fortunately, his musical evolution was speedier than most, and he soon began to dig the righteous stuff. Graduating through the Fats Waller stage, and fortified by a few months syncopation lessons, (to get that bass) he began to acquire a truer perspective of the real jazz, and an increasing desire to play it. Academic tuition was now a thing of the past - records became his source of instruction.
Then came the day when he first heard Jelly Roll Morton’ s King Porter Stomp. That did it. Ever since then he has worshipped at the Morton shrine, and nowadays he is the purest “purist” you could hope to meet (or avoid).
His association with various small bands began a long way back, and right from the early days his relentlessly righteous outlook has proved a bone of contention between him and the more commercially-minded of his fellow musicians.
But he stuck to his beliefs and almost achieved his ideal band in the Gutbucket Six, a group whose unfortunate disintegration on the brink of success was brought about by the call-up.
He is an implicit believer in the Morton principles of melody, variety, and originality in order to achieve the best results. And, above all, what counts with him is sincerity. That is why the Armstrong, Oliver, Morton, Bessie creed is to him the ultimate in jazz, and why he still holds a great admiration for Fats, for those are the musicians whom true artistry is infinitely more important than technical virtuosity.
His band repertoire of 150 or so pieces is composed almost entirely of New Orleans standards, while his solo repertoire consists mainly of Jelly Roll’s blues and stomps, Joplin rags, and a few opf his own compositions, the latter showing that Jelly’s maxim of originality has not fallen on stony ground.
His greatest achievement to date? When he played Shreveport Stomp in an otherwise strictly classical competition, and missed first place by only one mark.
The above was written by Ray Foxley when he was 19 for the programme notes of “Jazz at the Birmingham Town Hall” presented by Louis Brunton in conjunction with the Hot Club of London on Saturday, June 14th, 1947. Ray’s band, the Gutbucket Six shared the stage with George Webb’s Dixielanders, Bill Bramwell, the Humphrey Lyttelton-Wally Fawkes quartet, and the concert was compered by James Asman.
Discography
- Six for Two, 1979, on the JetonJetonJetons were token or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 17th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a lined board similar to an abacus. They also found use as a money substitute in games, similar to modern casino chips or poker chips...
label - Professor Foxley's Sporting House Music, 1978, on the JetonJetonJetons were token or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 17th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a lined board similar to an abacus. They also found use as a money substitute in games, similar to modern casino chips or poker chips...
label