[Dixielandjazz] Strathclyde Stompers

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Marek et al,

Marek's friend wrote

Hi Marek,
The better known jazz band was the Clyde Valley Stompers.
The Strathclyde Stompers  was pretty good trad jazz band that used to play
the jazz scene in Scotland in the late 60's early 70's. I don't have any
recordings of the band.We were lucky enough to get quite a lot of gigs and
occasionally did a warm up set for bands like Alex Welsh or once we
supported Kenny Ball's Jazzmen.

Regards,

Harvey

The plot thickens! I was very active in the Glasgow and West of Scotland scenes in the late 1960s but was in Brasil in the early 70s, then very active again on the Glasgow and wider Scottish jazz scene from 1972 onwards. However your friend's name and the band's name don't ring any bells whatsoever. The jazz scene in Glasgow shrank substantially in the mid 60s and by the late 60s there were two predominant trad bands in Glasgow: George Penman's Jazzmen and Jazz Heard. Both bands bands did a lot of support work with big name London-based bands as well as a lot of broadcasting for BBC. I co-led Jazz Heard but nobody else fancied bandleading chores (who can blame them?), so it wound up in 1971 while I was abroad. Thereafter I freelanced and played with all the local jazz groups across a range of styles from New Orleans to hard bop and never encountered or heard of a band called the Strathclyde Stompers. I'll ask around among other old jazzers here and report back if the mystery is resolved.

Cheers,

Ken