Ken Colyer & The First Traditional Jazz Band

[kiwihans]

as Pete 'kiwi' Keegan me and my skiffle group used to busk all round the west end in those days. I remember Chris Barber more for his great 'slap' bass playing on early skiffle records...I am still 'skiffling' ( Ken's term) after 53 years! Trad skiffle & blues...you cant beat it!

[wyrda222]

is there a part two?! The Skol bar towl brings back memories!

[usafsarge7]

I like the music.in 1957 i heared itbeing played in the UK.my thoughts were somebody heared turk murphy,and bob scoby.and just copied it note for note.iven the jazz men from new orleans did not like bunk johnson.i still prefer the style of the red hot chiliy perpers before every one went for "dixyland"

[knulla08]

Intersting bit of UK jazz history, thanks!

[murphysbricks1]

Great to see George again

[tommyrockon]

I just googled this programme and it was on LWT in 1984. Bill died in 2002 aged 82.

[tommyrockon]

HI Scots wanderer... This was lifted from a T.V. documentary entitled "Whatever happened to Bill Brunskill" I'm not sure which channel it was on but BBC 2 is probably a good bet. Bill Brunskill was an East End trumpet player who had his own band during the trad boom and was around up until his death some 10 years ago...

[DADRENO]

Mabel's Dream

[L88BS]

This is excellent. Thank you for posting

[eldorado62]

Ken Colyer was the closest thing we had in England that played New Orleans style trumpet.

[yammayammaman]

@eldorado62 You must be absolutely bonkers!

[scotswanderer]

Great stuff. I'd love to see all of this video.

What's it called? And, where can I look for a copy? I'm in So. California. (But grew up in Scotland listening to this music!)

[sturdle]

saw him around 1966ish at Wakefield Grammar School and he was rude and offhand...

[ElGeneral09]

Coyler or George Melly? I'm guessing Coyler, but I just want to be sure.

[COLYERFAN]

19,878 George Melly Fans!

[MrGrowser]

@COLYERFAN Now it's 38,909!

[RobeGre]

This is great. Thanks for posting this. It is impossible to say in just a few words quite what an inspiration Ken Colyer was, and not just to his own generation of fans but to those of us who heard him throughout the 70s and into his last decade.

[skipjive]

I learnt to jive to fantastic music at the Crane River Jazz Club in Cranford Middlesex. Not realising I was witnessing the first Traditional Jazz Band created by Ken Collyer. Thanks Paul for teaching me to jive like a maniac!!!!

[fangiobanjo]

Fantastic. The great man himself, in cheerful mood. Ken Colyer's music lives on. Thanks for posting this fascinating clip.

[zelde025]

Ken Colyer is one of the first cornet players I know who plays the typical Brittisch N.O.revival jazz in England and later on in the rest of the world.

Paulz.

[skipjive]

I learnt to jive in a small hut in Cranford, Middlesex, it was called the Crane River Jazz Club. A lad Paul taught me how to jive like a maniac and the traditional jazz music must have been blaring out from Ken Collyer in his early days!!

[careythefox]

Where was the small hut in Cranford? I know Cranford quie well.

[bcollinssc]

I saw George in 1960 ish at the Royal Oak Dagenham,and again in St Ives Cornwall,where he was giving a lecture in late 1900's.He was a 1'off.RIP.

[pearleking]

There'll never be another.......

[loftywheeldon]

Lofty Wheeldon.i saw george in 1957 at the halcyon in Peterborough with mick Mulligans band.he just got better with age.r.I.P. george.

[randycornhole]

I was lucky enough to have seen George in the mid 70's. He left a lasting impression, even to this day...

[longwen2722]

I am very sad about today's news as well.

[Babs05]

I'm amazed there are hardly any vids in YouTube. He was always on tv.  I always noticed him anyway. Really hoping there are people out there with lots of footage to upload for us. He was great fun to watch. I am very saddened by today's news.

[COLYERFAN]

Yes - just saw it on the news - George Melly died today 5/7/07 aged 80. I met him in the Crown, Lincoln when he was recording a series for TV.

[grai]

did you speak to him? What was he like?

[COLYERFAN]

Yes we had a pint together. A very jovial chap - a bit posh rather like Boris Johnson, very entertaining, during the interval from the theatre across the street.

One of the girls at work was crazy after him and attended all his appearances!

[allyplumb]

r.i.p george

[mcrenshaw]

beautiful......