[Dixielandjazz] Strathclyde Stompers

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Marek,

A lot of very fine musicians played for George Penman over the years. In the 1960s his front line included the fiery Lennie Herd on trumpet and the versatile George Kidd on trombone (his influences were Teagearden and Ory - Teagarden in his solos and Ory for ensemble tailgate). Both are in their 70s now and still playing wonderfully well. In the 1980s, Penman had Gordon Dillon on trumpet (Billy Butterfield was his big inspiration), Dick Stroak (a wonderfully versatile clarinettist/saxist influenced by Omer Simeon, Artie Shaw and Johnny Hodges) with either George Kidd or Jackie Murray on trombone and vocals (Jackie is an excellent mainstream trombonist and one of the finest singers around: great blues shouter styled on Spoon and Joe Williams and a wonderful ballad singer along the lines of Tony Bennett but jazzier). Jackie is still around and playing, but sadly both Gordon and Dick were taken from us much too early.

I agree that Jim Petrie is a wonderful trumpeter (although I think he was playing cornet last time I worked with him). He's still around, as is Bev, but the jazz scene in Edinburgh has shrunk alarmingly of late so I'm not sure the Diplomats are working much. They are on the bill for the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, which has just launched its 2014 programme: see http://www.edinburghjazzfestival.com/programme/artists/diplomats-of-jazz.html

It doesn't surprise me that an English correspondent had never heard of Jim. When you read jazz publications from London, you'd be excused for thinking nothing happens north of Watford and there's an assumption that, unless you play on the London scene, you probably can't play at all. That's just plain ignorant as there are excellent players all over the UK. Scotland has a critical mass of outstanding players just now; the tragedy is that there isn't a critical mass of available gigs paying decent money.

Cheers,

Ken


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Marek Boym 
  To: Ken Mathieson 
  Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List 
  Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2014 9:34 PM
  Subject: Re: Strathclyde Stompers


  I heard Gerorge Penman in Glasgow, and, I blieve, at the  Edinburgh festival.  An excellent band, wasn't it?  We drove there from Edinburgh, and we were told to come early if we wanted good seats, because whenever Penman played the place was SRO.  I ended up standing - there was too much noisy conversation at our table.

  In Glasgow Jim Petrie substituted for the regular trumpeter - an advantage, as far as I was concerned, because Jim, although hardly well known, had been a favourite of mine for a long time (or should I have said 'has been?").  An English correspondent once asked me who was my favourite British trumpet/cornet player.  I replied Jim Petrie, but he had never heard of him.  After hearing him for the first time at the festival volunteer party (my friend volunteered), the first thing I'd do when in Edinburgh was to enquire about the Diplomats of Jazz.  In those pre-internet days I usually phoned Beverly Knight (if I remember properly), their lady banjo player.

  Cheers




  On 18 May 2014 22:34, Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk> wrote:

    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



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