The news of the passing of piano legend Terry Shannon has come as a shock even though he was, as Simon Spillett reports on his Facebook page, just a week short of his 93rd birthday. Although he had been off the jazz scene for many years, lately he has never been far away from my thoughts. The reason for this is due to the fact that I'm currently reading Peter Dawn's mammoth tome: Phil Seaman, Percussion Genius and by association with Phil, Tubby, Ronnie and many of the others on the modern jazz that was burgeoning in Soho during the early 1950s, Terry is frequently referred to on a number of the pages as part of the Jazz Couriers (he's in the centre of the EP cover photo) and the Tubby Hayes Quartet.
That he was one of the more outstanding modern pianists on the British scene is unquestionable as I can vouch from those days when I was hanging out at The Flamingo listening to the Couriers and, later, to the various small groups such as Tubby's Quartet.
I got the impression, albeit from afar, that he was a shy and unassuming person who was possibly unaware of his own talent which may explain why, to the best of my knowledge, he never recorded as a leader.
Terry Shannon died on October 29. Lance
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