Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made the above statement in 1957. This may have been political magoozlum but when applied to sport and jazz he was pretty close.
In the former category, Newcastle United won the FA Cup three times (1951, 1952, 1955); Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Marciano were all-time boxing greats and the all-conquering West Indian cricketers were celebrated with a calypso by Lord Beginner who was no more a lord than Bill Basie was a count. Beginner, who was part of the Windrush generation, composed Victory Test Match - Calypso which was the first calypso I can remember hearing.
Musicwise, Frank Sinatra recorded a series of albums on the Capitol label that have yet to be equalled in the annuls of popular song. It was also the hard bop era when Blue Note issued albums by Horace Silver and Art Blakey that became the blueprint for the genre. However, they weren't easy to come by in the UK and when they were they were prohibitively priced.
Live jazz, particularly in London, was everywhere ranging from the trad of Colyer and Barber to modernists such as Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Joe Harriott, Phil Seaman and many more. It was also a time when the doors were opened to American musicians and, for the first time we heard the bands of Basie, Ellington and Kenton. How tame British brass sections now sounded by comparision. There were also tours by Louis Armstrong, Eddie Condon, Jack Teagarden and JATP.
Yes, in retrospect we did have it so good! Lance
1 comment :
I never thought about it till you mentioned it but you are right, the 50's were great for jazz in the UK. In spite of the lack of money I still managed to see all the musicians you listed with the exception of Jack Teagarden.
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