Laurie Taylor's Hot Jazz Nights

[Tenor Freak]

Over on the radio station next door there was an interesting discussion on Laurie Taylor's Thinking Allowed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sjhht

Their discussion of the post-war trad scene made it all sound rather grim but the discussion was based on the publication of a new social history of live music in Britain, 1950 - 1967.

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks for that link TF - I'd have missed this!

Another worthwhile recent publication covering roughly the same period is Duncan Heining's "Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers and Free Fusioneers". I would give the link but unfortunately can't read it all as it's longer than the display window on my computer, - but it can be Googled.

[Tom Audustus]

I found "Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers and Free Fusioneers" a difficult read. It is full of the author's own political opinions which you have to plough through to get to the interesting stuff on the trad jazz music scene of the 50s. It remains at the back of my bedside table half-read and untouched since February. I would not recommend it.

[grippie]

There was a very good autobiography of this period by Big Ron Coltrane, it's not in print now but maybe found at Abe Books or eBay?

[grippie]

Back in 2007 our own Ian Thumwood wrote this very fine obituary on Big Ron Coltrane



Ronald St. Clair Coltrane IV (1930 – 2007)

The apparent suicide of iconic British Jazz saxophonist Ron Coltrane on Friday night brings to the end a generation of musicians who were instrumental in pushing forward Modern Jazz in the heady days of the late 1940’s through to the mid-1960’s. Up until the arrival of Jazz Rock and Fusion, Ron Coltrane regularly featured in reader’s poll’s in a host of publications such as “The Melody Maker” as this country’s finest exponent of the tenor saxophone and surely he would have enjoyed a better reputation with today’s jazz audience were it not for his notorious lapses in character and ill-judgement that frequently saw him having to earn his living as a tax driver. Hailed by many fans as a genius but equally vilified by his few musicians who had to endure his increasingly bizarre antics, Ron Coltrane was an unlikely figure in the burgeoning British Jazz scene, even if his familiar surname would have suggested otherwise. Born into an impoverish family within the shadow of Bishop of Winchester’s palace in Southwick, it was ironic that he should later spend some time in the “clinque” having been sentenced for narcotic offences – one of the little known fall outs of the notorious Profumo Affair.

There was little to suggest in his early life that Coltrane would become a bastion of the fledgling Modern Jazz scene amongst the likes of John Dankworth. Indeed, he often recounted the story that his initial inspiration to become a jazz musician was after hearing Muggsy Spanier’s Ragtimer’s playing “I wish I could shimmy like my sister Kate” but an encounter with American Military Police in the run up to D-Day introduced him to the music of Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. (Prophetically, a favourite track was Count Basie’s “Taxi War Dance.”) This proved to be an epiphany for teen-aged Ron who would then specifically seek out American service men stationed in London with whom to trade his cigarettes for precious 78’s. When was later invited by Jamie Aebersold to assist in a Jazz Workshop in Chalk Hill Farm, Coltrane allegedly declined and suggested that the students send their fees direct to him in exchange for C90 tapes of his famous recordings. This resulted in a frank exchange of views with the musical education establishment on whose panel Coltrane was appointed with the view to creating a jazz syllabus. Coltrane was immediately fired and vowed never to associate himself with either workshops or colleges and, instead, promoted the notion that “real jazz musicians are born and not manufactured.” This was followed by a lengthy period whereby he took to driving taxis for a living – a far cry from his heyday when the likes of Kenton, Basie and Lionel Hampton courted his services during their tours of the UK.

Ron Coltrane’s recording debut passed unnoticed as a sideman with Sid Phillips but having caught the Be-bop bug, he later cut the legendary rendition of “ I don’t stand a ghost of a chance with you” which remains his most famous solo and one copied by generations of would-be saxophonists. The introduction of bongos on this ballad was deemed to be unique at the time. During the late 1940’s, his sparing partner was the shadowy trumpet player Trevor Cooper, much over-looked at the time and now entirely forgotten. For many, this relationship was akin to Dizzy and Bird, Miles and namesake John Coltrane or even Guy Barker and Jamie Talbot. Unfortunately, disagreements arose over the employment was of a proposed girl singer (believed to be Betty Turpin) and the tenor man’s wish to expand the quintet to a 17-piece Big Band which ultimately led to the break up of this unit and Cooper disappearing with Coltrane’s wife. It was alleged that Coltrane tried to suffocate Cooper by shoving a copy of “The Eagle” down the trumpet-player’s throat. Some say the decline started with the break-up of this quintet although others believe that Cooper was the more affected of the two. Either way, Cooper’s career as a jazz musician was over (nothing has been heard from his since) and the London jazz scene started to be wary if Ron’s wayward personality. Even his feisty “old fella” pianist started to stay clear of Ron. Recordings of this proto-bop band can be found on the recent Proper Box 4-CD set “Boppin’ at Beaconsfield.”

Like many of his contemporaries, Ron Coltrane was heavily influenced by the work of Miles Davis’ “Birth of the cool” band and similarly hit the jazz clubs in the early 1950’s with his own octet. It was not a success as the audiences could not relate to the juxtaposition of honking tenor riffs with the “cool” orchestral arrangements. Trying to catch the enthusiasm for the R n’ B of the time. Many critics now credit Coltrane’s work with this band as instrumental in the development of Rock and Roll. Little by this band was recorded in the studio and the few live recordings that exist suffer from Coltrane being off-mike – no doubt spinning on his back on the floor continually blowing a b-flat. This would later come into good use again with his controversial Albert Ayler tribute album “Bow bells”, seen by many critics as the worse British jazz record ever.

If Ron’s “cool” band bombed heavier than a Kenny Clarke drum break, the next halt of the decade resulted in a slew of records in the now familiar Hard Bop style that have been loved by the jazz cognoscenti and Gilles Peterson ever since. Featuring the tenor man at the top of his game usually paired with another horn player plus piano, bass and drums, albums such as “ Kew Struttin’”, Portrait of Ron”, “Ron’s crib,” “Let St. Paul’s Ring!!” and “Live in Bohemia” are essentials for any serious jazz collection. Backed by a cooking rhythm section, the writing is frequently simple but the music is effective and gives a good example of the kind of jazz you were likely to hear in London in the 50’s and 60’s if you didn’t have a ticket to see Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Joe Harriott, Stan Tracey, Vic Lewis, Tony Kinsey, Tony Crombie, Johnny Dankworth or “Bogey” Gaynair. Later on, Ron experimented with Free Jazz – the results of which are alleged to have prompted Ornette Coleman, over in the UK on tour at the time, to claim “Ron Coltrane is a seriously weird cat.” Hard to come by, albums such as “The Empty Badger Sett” do nothing to dispel Ornette’s perception. As mentioned previously, this evolved with the tenor man fully embracing the “New Thing” Jazz movement of the late 1960’s and concert goers of the time would not be surprised to see Ron Coltrane dressed in a kaftan or his notorious leather suit, the saxophone screaming at the top of it’s range whilst King Kennytone would work himself into a state of nirvana behind the bongos, an instrument that is something of a mainstay in Ron’s discography. However, audiences were bemused and often left in droves so that the close of the decade saw the emergence of his “Grits’ n’ green’s” organ band that included a heavily amplified electric guitar. Critics of the time referred to this kind of British equivalent to the prevalent American “Soul Jazz” as “Pie n’ licker” jazz. It was through these recordings that a younger audience, switched on by “Acid Jazz”, re-discovered Ron Coltrane’s music in the early 1990’s.

The emergence of Jazz Rock did little favours to Ron Coltrane and he was a fierce critic of those who he believed were selling out the music that he loved. Yet, this once vociferous fan of Coleman Hawkins was often to be found in the recording studios backing a whole wealth of popular music acts throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s before he was able to enjoy a renaissance during the 1990’s.

In the last two decades of his life, Ron Coltrane was a festival regular and if BBC Radio 3 eschewed his services, it was not down to the calibre of his music. He was lined up to be a guest on Julian Joseph’s “Jazz Legends” series but instead of being interviewed by the pianist was interviewed by members of the Met following a misdemeanour the details of which were alleged to have cost Coltrane £10,000 to keep out of “The News of the World.” After this incident, even Jez Nelson was reluctant to book him. Concert goers through-out Europe were treated each summer to frequent attendances at the likes of Montruex, The North Sea Festival, Molde and Vienne where he would often tour with his recent groups. More often than not, Coltrane would now return to the formula of Modern Jazz with which he made his name but never one to miss the opportunity to court controversy, was known to employ rap artists as part of his act to reach out to a younger generation. Unfortunately, the money earned from these appearances was not great and although the endeavour to employ Polish musicians in order to cut down costs was not entirely unsuccessful, Coltrane was forced from time to time to supplement his income working for a taxi company.

Often controversial and famously difficult to work with, there is no doubt that Ron Coltrane was one of British jazz’s most colourful characters and his likes will never be seen again.

Ron Coltrane leaves a wife, three ex-wives, 10 children and 15 grand-children