[Dixielandjazz] "Trad Jazz Britannia" BBC 4 TV - Friday 24th May @ 9PM

[Bert Brandsma]

Hello John,
Thanks for poining this out! Hope I will be able to find BBC4 that day.
Bert Brandsma

> Date: Fri, 10 May 2013 09:33:48 +0100
> From: tjpost at traditional-jazz.com
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] "Trad Jazz Britannia" BBC 4 TV - Friday 24th May @	9PM
> CC: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> To: mister_bertje at hotmail.com
> 
> Greetings folks,
> Here's the BBC release about the documentary in which I contributed a
> few months back, on Traditional Jazz. It is called "Trad Jazz Britannia"
> and goes out on BBC FOUR, 9pm, Friday 24th May 2013. It was originally
> scheduled for 17th May, but they are doing a programme about Rock'n'Roll
> on that date.
> 
> The BBC were planning to interview Kenny Ball, but did not do so before
> he passed away. They did interview the late Terry Lightfoot.
> 
> Here's the BBC release:
> "Trad Jazz Britannia
> 
> Post-War Britain’s infatuation with New Orleans Jazz.
> 
> With rare 78rpm imports as their only guide, a generation of amateur
> jazz enthusiasts created a traditional jazz scene that strove to
> recreate the essence and freedom of 20s New Orleans in 50s Britain.
> 
> This film reveals how at a pub in south East London in 1943, a bunch of
> curious mavericks led by pugnacious George Webb became the first
> musicians to dare recreate raw New Orleans jazz in Britain. Bringing the
> Big Easy to Barnehurst, the Dixielanders began a post-War revival of New
> Orleans jazz.
> 
> The revival famously saw Ex-Etonian Humphrey Lyttelton form his own band
> and set up a night at the future punk 100 club. A generation found
> release in this good time music-including the likes of a young George
> Melly- and a revivalist scene was born.
> 
> While British youth jived in smoky dives, the music itself was beset by
> arguments of authenticity. Determined to get to the source, Ken Colyer
> embarked on a pilgrimage to New Orleans. This film follows in Colyer’s
> footsteps and lays bare a musical nirvana beset by racial segregation.
> On his return Colyer joined Chris Barber and Tony (eventually Lonnie)
> Donegan to form the band that would set the benchmark for British
> traditional jazz- before musical differences set in.
> 
> The Barber band would discover remarkable Irish blues singer Ottilie
> Patterson and invent ‘skiffle’; old-time American folk songs thrashed
> out between jazz sets. The 1956 hit Rock Island Line made a star of
> banjo player Lonnie Donegan and spawned the first teenage musical craze-
> as well as a nationwide shortage of tea chests.
> 
> As the rock ‘n’ roll explosion fizzled out, commercial interests
> descended on traditional jazz as the possible next big thing. In 1959
> Monty Sunshine’s cover of Sidney Bechet’s ‘Petite Fleur’ reached the top
> ten and laid the foundations for a ‘Trad’ boom. Mr Acker Bilk, in his
> trademark waistcoat-bowler combo, hit the top spot in both Britain and
> the USA with ‘Stranger On The Shore’ and moustachioed trumpet ace Kenny
> Ball found fame with the catchy ‘Midnight In Moscow’.
> 
> Even cinema cashed in. ‘It’s Trad Dad!’ showcased the bands of the day
> including The Temperance Seven, who gave a young George Martin his first
> #1 with ‘You’re Driving Me Crazy’ in 1961. The film explains how this
> was the first and last time New Orleans jazz became British pop. For a
> moment the trad fad looked set to soundtrack the Sixties but by 1962
> there was a cool Liverpudlian breeze in the air.
> 
> Featuring Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Wally Fawkes and unseen interviews
> with the late Humphrey Lyttelton and George Melly. Narrated by Roger
> McGough".
> -- 
> John Petters
> www.traditional-jazz.com
> Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
> 
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