[Dixielandjazz] BG's UK Band & John McLevy

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Bill et al,

I can't vouch for John McLevy being the trumpet soloist on tracks other than 
"Baubles" on the BG in Stockholm album as I don't have a copy, although I've 
heard lots of individual tracks over the years. However these mails have 
reminded me that I ought to buy a copy, not just because the music on it is 
so good, but as a reminder of how good all these guys (including BG) were at 
their very considerable prime.

Many of them are/were old friends of mine and you're right about Bobby Orr 
being a marvellous drummer and mouth pencil player. He'll be 80 this year 
and is still playing gigs. As a measure of how good he is, when I ran the 
first Glasgow International Jazz Festival in 1987, I had to put together a 
big band to work with Benny Carter and naturally had to discuss names with 
Benny before hiring anyone. When the drum chair came up, before any other 
candidates were mentioned, Benny said "If you can get Bobby Orr, I'm in safe 
hands." Incidentally, that band also had John McLevy and Tommy McQuater in 
it, as well as a great bunch of other players. George Chisholm would have 
been there too, had he not been on holiday at the time.

It's really a pretty small world: Like your wife, I'm originally from 
Paisley and I played a lot during the 1970s and 80s with Chis. The trio I 
worked with at the Black Bull Jazz Club was his preferred accompanying group 
when he came to do gigs in Scotland and we shared lots of fun and good music 
together. I had a lot of fun with Tom McQuater too, although I think I only 
played with him once. When I worked in London I used to join Tom, John 
McLevy and other musicians in a pub near Perivale, where I was working, so I 
got to know Tom pretty well. He was always entertaining company, with views 
ranging from outspoken to outrageous.

Excuse me, I'm off to Amazon to chase up the BG record.

Regards,

Ken Mathieson

www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Haesler" <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au>
To: "Ken Mathieson" <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 1:25 AM
Subject: Re: BG's UK Band & John McLevy


> 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.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.173 / Virus Database: 270.8.0/1721 - Release Date: 12/10/2008 
12:00