Ambrose, Benjamin Baruch [Bert] (1896–1971), bandleader and violinist, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in the Russian empire, on 11 September 1896, the son of Lewis Ambrose (1869/70–1962), a dealer in rags in the East End of London, and his wife, Becky or Rebecca (1870/71–1945)...
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Victor Robert Barclay (1911–1987) by Terry Cryer, c. 1956 © Terry Cryer; Val Wilmer Collection
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Barclay, Victor Robert [Bob] (1911–1987), musician and bandleader, was born at 45 Wellington Street, Greenock, Renfrewshire, on 10 July 1911, the elder son and eldest of three children of William Bartholomew Barclay, labourer and coalminer, and his wife, Janet Adamson, née Chrystal, factory worker. His father was of ...
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Carl Aldric Stanley Barriteau (1914–1998) by Alan Duncan, 1942 [dedicated to George Roberts, saxophonist] photograph by Alan Duncan; Val Wilmer Collection
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Barriteau, Carl Aldric Stanley (1914–1998), clarinettist and bandleader, was born on 7 February 1914 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the elder son and eldest of four children of Josiah Stanley Barriteau, stenographer and journalist, and his wife, May (b. c.1894). Both parents were Trinidadian. He spent his early childhood in ...
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Sheila Tracy
Benson, Ivy (1913–1993), bandleader, was born at the Malt Shovel, 26 Lowerhead Row, Holbeck, Leeds, a public house owned by her grandparents, on 11 November 1913. She was the only daughter and third child of Douglas Rolland Benson (1890–1977), a musician, and his wife, ...
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Ivy Benson (1913–1993) by Harry Hammond, 1952 [centre, with her band] V&A Images, The Victoria and Albert Museum; collection National Portrait Gallery, London
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Black, Stanley (1913–2002), bandleader, pianist, and composer, was born in the London Hospital, Whitechapel, London, on 14 June 1913, the son of Lewis Schwartz, shoe dealer, and his wife, Sophia, formerly Diamond. He began taking piano lessons at the age of seven, and went on to study at the ...
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Stanley Black (1913–2002) by unknown photographer, 1958 © Empics
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Bright, Gerald Walcan- [performing name Geraldo] (1904–1974), bandleader, was born in Islington, north London, on 10 August 1904, the twin son (there were also three daughters) of Isaac Walcan-Bright, master tailor, and his wife, Frances Feldman. Like his brother, Sidney, he was musical from an early age. He started to learn the piano when he was five and he continued his training at the ...
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Brown, Alexander [Sandy] (1929–1975), bandleader and acoustic architect, was born on 25 February 1929 in Izatnagar, near Bareilly in India, the second son of John Brown, a railway engineer who died about 1936, and his wife, Minnie Henderson (d. 1975). His parents were Scottish and Presbyterian, although ...
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Campbell, Ambrose (1919–2006), musician and bandleader, was born Oladipupo Adekoya Campbell in Lagos, Nigeria, on 19 August 1919, the third of four sons in the family of six children of James, G. M., or Adekoya Campbell, a minister in the West African Episcopal church...
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Kenneth Colyer (1928–1988) by David Redfern photograph David Redfern / Redferns
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A. J. H. Latham
Colyer, Kenneth (1928–1988), jazz musician, was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 18 April 1928, the third son in a family of three sons and two daughters of Kenneth Edward Colyer, a chauffeur and butler, and his wife, Ruby Erhardt (d. c...
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![Cover Cotton, William Edward [Billy] (1899–1969)](/cover/searchableMedia/odnb-9780198614128-e-1005102-graphic-1-thumbnail.jpg)
William Edward Cotton (1899–1969) by Yousuf Karsh Karsh / Camera Press, London
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Anthony Wills
Cotton, William Edward [Billy] (1899–1969), bandleader and radio and television broadcaster, was born on 27 May 1899 at 31 New Tothill Street, Westminster, London, the youngest of the ten children of Joseph Cotton, a water turncock, and his wife, Susan Harmer. He was educated at ...
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Deniz, Francisco Antonio [Frank] (1912–2005), guitarist and bandleader, was born at 9 Christina Street, Cardiff, on 31 July 1912, the eldest of three sons of Antoni (or Antonio) Francisco Deniz, formerly Diniz (1878–c.1931), a donkeyman (engine-room sailor), and his wife, Gertrude Blanch (or Blanche), ...
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Francisco Antonio Deniz (1912–2005) by Val Wilmer © Val Wilmer
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Elizalde, Federico [Fred] (1907–1979), bandleader and composer, was born in Manila in the Philippines on 12 December 1907, the son of wealthy Navarro-Andalusian Spanish parents. Showing early musical talents, he was sent at the age of seven to the Madrid Royal Conservatory, where he studied under ...
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Peter Gammond
Fox, Roy Clifton (1901–1982), trumpeter and bandleader, was born on 25 October 1901 in Denver, Colorado, USA, the son of Joseph Wilbur Fox (d. in or before 1953), a carpenter. His parents, who were both musical, were members of the Salvation Army...
