[Dixielandjazz] Re: Ken Colyer

[Tony Pringle]

It was nice to see some discussion of Ken Colyer on the DJML.

I was introduced to jazz with some 78 rpm records of jelly Roll 
Morton and Bunk Johnson and fell in love with the music. I must admit 
that early listening to Ken Colyer, Chris BArber and others on LP did 
not grab me. Somehow they didn't seem to have the same feel as the 
earlier stuff that I had found.

One night in 1956 I took the guy who would become the drummer in my 
first band - The Druids Jazz Band - to Hanley near Stoke-on-Trent to 
hear Ken. We were both entranced - the sheer drive of the band, the 
broad repertoire, the dynamics and all those ride out ensembles.. 
What an evening. The fact that the bus deposited us out in the 
country and we had to walk through unlit country lanes for numerous 
miles did not bother us.

The next day we went up to Stoke and my friend bought drum sticks. We 
were at a summer college and he drove us crazy drumming on everything 
that didn't move. Later that year he joined my band and we later 
became the interval band for Saturday nights at the Cavern in 
Liverpool.

The Cavern job enabled us to hear some excellent bands - Acker Bilk 
with Ken Sims, Graham Stewarts band with Alan Elsdon, Sandy Brown 
with Al Fairweather, etc. I enjoyed all those cornet/trumpet players 
and learned a lot from watching and listening, but somehow Ken made a 
larger impression. Listening to Ken led me to Kid Howard, Percy 
Humphrey and Wooden Joe Nicholas, all of whom I still enjoy. In later 
years I have found other favourites such as Red Allen, but can always 
enjoy Ken and especially his late 1950s band with Ian Wheeler and Mac 
Duncan. What a band.

A few years ago I got to play with Ian Wheeler in Keswick and it 
brought back all those early pleasures of listening to Ken. I still 
have his two first 10" LPs.

Didn't mean to go on at such length, but the mailing struck a chord - 
so to speak.

Regards,

Tony Pringle