[Dixielandjazz] BG's UK Band & John McLevy

[Bill Haesler]

Ken Mathieson wrote:
> Here's a link to a photo of John McLevy, which should help you  
> identify if he's the man on your LP liner notes:
> www.jazzphotographsbysuestorey.co.uk/photo_1595216.html
> To identify him aurally, John's big feature with BG was Baubles,  
> Bangles and Beads, but I'm sure he soloed on other tracks too, as I  
> know BG held his playing in the highest regard. Once you've  
> digested  Baubles, you should be able to spot his solos elsewhere.  
> He had a distinctive way of using dissonant notes and holding on to  
> them until they resolved into consonant notes, which I always  
> thought was a pretty neat way of keeping the audience awake, while  
> simultanously giving the band a laugh.

Dear Ken,
That's him. With a 'high forehead'.
I had already checked out his playing on the "Baubles, Bangles and  
Beads" feature, which allowed me to identify him on (I believe)  
"Stealing Apples", "I Would Do Anything For You", "Sing, Sing, Sing",  
"Big John Special", "Roll 'Em" and "Blue Skies".
Thank you for the pic and the info.
As Marek has already observed; "That Stockholm concert is as good as  
most BG big band recordings of old."
When discussing the merits of UK and American musicians BG played the  
Stockholm concert to Russell Conner and, halfway through, exclaimed,  
"There; they don't sound like foreigners, do they!"
And what a great drummer that Scot Bobby Orr is, as his work on "Sing,  
Sing, Sing" reveals. And his knockout short percussion feature,  
Mozart's "Turkish March"using a Venus HB drawing pencil. The old Music  
Hall mouth percussion act?
Time for trivia: My wife Jess's maiden name was Orr and her father (a  
trumpet player in the 30s - as is her young brother Ian in Melbourne,  
Oz) grew up and knocked about with George Chisholm and Tommy McQuater.  
Bobby Orr worked in Paisley as a kid where Jess was born, but if he  
had been a relation I'm sure that it would have been mentioned.   8>)
As you can see, I have enjoyed replaying this long-forgotten LP set.
Kind regards,
Bill.