The Serious family is saddened by the
loss of one of its founders John Cumming – a much-loved colleague and
friend.
 John loved jazz, theatre and
especially his family. He met the love of his life, his wife Ginnie,
when they were studying at Edinburgh University, and they had a
daughter, Kate.
From the late 1960s, he worked primarily in theatre as a director,
lighting designer and occasional writer. As well as designing lights
for Lindsay Kemp and the Welfare State, he co-founded the Pool
Theatre in Edinburgh. Although he is celebrated for his work in
music, it was that sense of theatre that drove him to create inspiring
festivals and produce extraordinary musical collaborations.
John joined South Hill Park Arts Centre
in 1973 to run the theatre and music programmes, and started the
Bracknell Jazz Festival, building it into an international platform
for contemporary jazz and improvised music. Turning freelance in
1977, he worked as a production and tour manager for Contemporary
Music Network in the UK, and internationally for George Russell
(creating the Anglo-American Living Time Orchestra), Carla Bley and
Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra. He programmed the Camden Jazz
Week and continued to work as lighting designer for the Albany
Empire, IOU Theatre Company and Mike Westbrook.
In the mid-80s, he founded Serious
Productions with John Ellson, working with Orphy Robinson, Andy
Sheppard and John Surman. David Jones joined them to form Serious
Speakout in 1992 and they launched what has become one of the world's
great music festivals, the EFG London Jazz Festival. In 1996, Claire
Whitaker joined, and they formed Serious as it is known today.
John loved pushing at the boundaries of
jazz, reclaiming and underlining the radical inspiration of the music
and exploring links with hip-hop and dance culture. He was close to
so many major American artists, including Cecil Taylor, Max Roach,
Jack DeJohnette and Robert Glasper, but he was particularly
passionate about the creative forces inside European jazz. He touched
many lives in the UK jazz scene and it gave him great satisfaction
that he lived to see a new generation of jazz musicians delighting
huge audiences.
John was at his best when he worked closely with colleagues and
partners, sharing ideas, drinks, enthusiasms and elliptical Scottish
jokes ("What is a Partick Thistle?" asked
one bemused tour manager), and helping Serious to develop younger
producers who have gone on to work across the world. He received
Awards for Services to Jazz at both the BBC Jazz Awards and the
Parliamentary Jazz Awards, and in 2014 he was made an OBE for
Services to Jazz.
John stepped back from Serious last year,
but he stayed connected right to the end. Just a couple of weeks ago,
he was working on the European tour of his last international
production, Harlem Hellfighters, which featured a new
generation of young musicians from Tomorrow's Warriors working with
Jason Moran. Combining film, literature, theatre and a dazzling range
of black music, it was a complex and thrilling piece - a final
statement by an inspiring producer who was loved by everyone who knew
him.
 Everyone
at Serious sends all our love to Ginnie, Kate and his family.
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