Music and Me
Have I already mentioned jazz ?
August 22nd is my eldest brother’s birthday. Victor sadly passed away 7 years ago; he would have been 82 today. He was a leading light for me regarding my love of jazz. He started learning the piano at a very young age, and introduced me to the music of talented musicians from across the world. He was a dedicated Melody Maker reader and when he went off to university in London he went to see as many musicians as he could. And when I left home for London he took me to Ronnie’s to see some of the most amazing jazz musicians in the world, including Count Basie, Betty Carter, Cleo Lane … the list goes on. I went on my own to see Duke Ellington at the Royal Albert Hall: I think it was 1967. I sat on the floor up in the top gallery and thought I must have been dreaming.
Victor’s career was as a dentist and he was no doubt the most awesome piano playing dentist you would ever meet! He did the occasional gig, also took up the alto sax later on and went every summer to a jazz retreat. He hosted jazz evenings at his house which were attended by Norma Winston, John Taylor, Howard Riley and many other British musicians. Coming from a musical family meant that some of us stood up to perform too. I quite fancied myself doing Sarah Vaughan/Ella Fitzgerald/Betty Carter renditions of the much loved jazz standards, improvising away as if there was no tomorrow. Naturally I ended up marrying a jazz musician and our two daughters were also brought up in a musical home.
I have been privileged to see so many of the ‘jazz greats’ in London and New York over the years. The sequel to ‘Masquerade’ will of course also include music, this time with more of a focus on British jazz from the 1950s onwards and will of course be dedicated to dear Victor.
Thinking of you Vic. Thankyou. xx
August 22nd is my eldest brother’s birthday. Victor sadly passed away 7 years ago; he would have been 82 today. He was a leading light for me regarding my love of jazz. He started learning the piano at a very young age, and introduced me to the music of talented musicians from across the world. He was a dedicated Melody Maker reader and when he went off to university in London he went to see as many musicians as he could. And when I left home for London he took me to Ronnie’s to see some of the most amazing jazz musicians in the world, including Count Basie, Betty Carter, Cleo Lane … the list goes on. I went on my own to see Duke Ellington at the Royal Albert Hall: I think it was 1967. I sat on the floor up in the top gallery and thought I must have been dreaming.
Victor’s career was as a dentist and he was no doubt the most awesome piano playing dentist you would ever meet! He did the occasional gig, also took up the alto sax later on and went every summer to a jazz retreat. He hosted jazz evenings at his house which were attended by Norma Winston, John Taylor, Howard Riley and many other British musicians. Coming from a musical family meant that some of us stood up to perform too. I quite fancied myself doing Sarah Vaughan/Ella Fitzgerald/Betty Carter renditions of the much loved jazz standards, improvising away as if there was no tomorrow. Naturally I ended up marrying a jazz musician and our two daughters were also brought up in a musical home.
I have been privileged to see so many of the ‘jazz greats’ in London and New York over the years. The sequel to ‘Masquerade’ will of course also include music, this time with more of a focus on British jazz from the 1950s onwards and will of course be dedicated to dear Victor.
Thinking of you Vic. Thankyou. xx
No comments have been added yet.
