Appleton, Joseph Edward [Joe] (1903/4–1991), saxophonist, clarinettist, and bandleader, was born Joseph Edward Appleton-Thomas in Porus, Jamaica, on 2 June 1903 or 1904, the only son and one of two children of Joseph Appleton-Thomas, a road maintenance official. His parents were Jamaican. In ...
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Article
Appleton, Joseph Edward [Joe] (1903/4–1991), saxophonist, clarinettist, and bandleader
Val Wilmer
Article
Bilk, Bernard Stanley [Acker] (1929–2014), clarinettist and bandleader
Digby Fairweather
Bilk, Bernard Stanley [Acker] (1929–2014), clarinettist and bandleader, was born in Pensford, Somerset, on 28 January 1929, the son of William John Bilk (1876–1941), journeyman carpenter and cabinet maker, and part-time church organist, and his wife, Lilian Lydia Amanda, ...
Article
Blake, Cyril McDonald [called Midnight Blake] (1897–1951), jazz musician
Howard Rye
Blake, Cyril McDonald [called Midnight Blake] (1897–1951), jazz musician, was born on 22 October 1897 in Trinidad, the son of Samuel Blake, cabinet-maker. He served in the merchant navy in the First World War and went to Britain on discharge. In October 1921 he was a member for engagements in ...
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Bryden, Beryl Audrey (1920–1998)
Maker: David Redfern
In
Beryl Audrey Bryden (1920–1998) by David Redfern, 1990 photograph David Redfern / Redferns
Article
Bryden, Beryl Audrey (1920–1998), jazz singer and washboard player
Val Wilmer
Bryden, Beryl Audrey (1920–1998), jazz singer and washboard player, was born on 11 May 1920 at 17 Rowington Road, Norwich, Norfolk, the only child of Amos Wilfred Bertram Bryden, a commercial traveller, and his wife, Elsie Maud Tyler Reeves Jones. She was educated at ...
Article
Campbell, Ambrose (1919–2006), musician and bandleader
Val Wilmer
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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![Cover Cann, Rita Evelyn [performing name Rita Lawrence] (1911–2001)](/cover/searchableMedia/odnb-9780198614128-e-1013074-graphic-1-thumbnail.jpg)
Cann, Rita Evelyn [performing name Rita Lawrence] (1911–2001)
Maker: Val Wilmer
In
Rita Evelyn Cann (1911–2001) by Val Wilmer, 1990 photograph © Val Wilmer
Article
Cann, Rita Evelyn [performing name Rita Lawrence] (1911–2001), pianist and singer
Val Wilmer
Cann, Rita Evelyn [performing name Rita Lawrence] (1911–2001), pianist and singer, was born on 24 January 1911 at Heathfield, Box Ridge Avenue, Beddington, Surrey, the elder daughter and eldest of three children of Albert Sam Cann (1871–1930×34), an import–export merchant, and his wife, ...
Article
Chilton, John James (1932–2016), trumpeter, bandleader, and jazz historian
Digby Fairweather
Chilton, John James (1932–2016), trumpeter, bandleader, and jazz historian, was born at Charing Cross Hospital, London, on 16 July 1932, the son of Thomas William Chilton (1892–1943), printer and music-hall comedian, and his wife Eileen Florence, née Burke (1897–1967). He took up the cornet at twelve; fell in love with jazz after hearing a ...
Article
Dacres, Desmond Adolphus [known as Desmond Dekker] (1941–2006), singer and songwriter
Steve Barker
Dacres, Desmond Adolphus [known as Desmond Dekker] (1941–2006), singer and songwriter, was born on 16 July 1941 in St Andrew, on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica. Little is known about his childhood except that after his mother's early death his father, desiring a proper education for his son, sent him to live with relatives in the quiet country town of ...
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![Cover Dacres, Desmond Adolphus [Desmond Dekker] (1941–2006)](/cover/searchableMedia/odnb-9780198614128-e-1014025-graphic-1-thumbnail.jpg)
Dacres, Desmond Adolphus [Desmond Dekker] (1941–2006)
Maker: David Corio
In
Desmond Adolphus Dacres (1941–2006) by David Corio, 1985 Getty Images
Article
Daniels, Maxine [real name Gladys Daniels; née Gladys Lynch] (1930–2003), singer
Val Wilmer
revised
Daniels, Maxine [real name Gladys Daniels; née Gladys Lynch] (1930–2003), singer, was born at 3 Raine Street, Stepney, London, on 2 November 1930, the tenth of fourteen children of Oscar Lynch (1883–1970), a seaman who served in the merchant navy during the First World War and who was known after 1932 as ...
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Daniels, Maxine (1930–2003)
Maker: Peter Symes
In
Maxine Daniels (1930–2003) by Peter Symes, 1987 © Peter Symes
Article
Dickerson, Isaac Perry (1850/1852–1900), singer and preacher
Jeffrey Green
Dickerson, Isaac Perry (1850/1852–1900), singer and preacher, was born into slavery in Wytheville, in south-west Virginia's Appalachian Mountains, probably in July 1850 or in 1852 (sources differ). His formal schooling started as a teenager, following emancipation in 1865, and in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he worked for a Jewish shopkeeper whose son taught him to read and write. In 1867 he enrolled at ...
Article
Fisher, Roy (1930–2017), poet and jazz pianist
Fleur Adcock
Fisher, Roy (1930–2017), poet and jazz pianist, was born on 11 June 1930 at 74 Kentish Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, the belated third child of Walter Fisher (1889–1959), a craftsman jeweller, and his wife, Emma, née Jones (1891–1965), who thought their family complete after the births of his siblings ...
Article
Gonella, Nathaniel Charles [Nat] (1908–1998), jazz trumpeter and singer
Digby Fairweather
Gonella, Nathaniel Charles [Nat] (1908–1998), jazz trumpeter and singer, was born on 7 March 1908 at 15 Edward Square, Islington, London, the fourth of seven children of Richard Henry Gonella (1871–1915), cab driver, and his wife, Elizabeth Susan Finnes. His father, who was of partly Italian descent, drove one of the first motorized ...
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Gordon, Aloysius Lincoln [Lucky] (1931–2017), petty criminal, singer, and cook
Richard Weight
Gordon, Aloysius Lincoln [Lucky] (1931–2017), petty criminal, singer, and cook, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 6 May 1931, reputedly one of twenty-one children of Alfred Gordon, cook. He earned his nickname because his mother had a small ‘pools’ win on the day he was born. Few who encountered him outside his extended family counted themselves lucky to have done so....
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Hall [married name Hall-Hicks], Adelaide Louise Estelle (1901–1993), jazz and cabaret singer
Stephen Bourne
Hall [married name Hall-Hicks], Adelaide Louise Estelle (1901–1993), jazz and cabaret singer, was born on 20 October 1901 in Brooklyn, New York, the elder daughter of William Arthur Hall, a piano and singing teacher at the Pratt Institute, New York, of African-American and Dutch descent, and his wife, ...
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Hall, Adelaide Louise Estelle (1901–1993)
Maker: Walery
In
Adelaide Louise Estelle Hall (1901–1993) by Walery, c. 1930 Getty Images – Walery
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![Cover Jansch, Herbert [Bert] (1943–2011)](/cover/searchableMedia/odnb-9780198614128-e-1014729-graphic-1-thumbnail.jpg)
Jansch, Herbert [Bert] (1943–2011)
Maker: Keith Morris
In
Herbert Jansch (1943–2011) by Keith Morris, 1985 © Estate of Keith Morris / Redferns / Getty Images
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