Kenny Ball (born Kenneth Daniel Ball, 22 May 1930, Ilford, Essex, England) is a British
jazz musician, best
known as the lead trumpet
player in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.
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Contents
- 1 Career
- 2 The
Jazzmen
- 3 Reference
- 4 External
links
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Career
Ball began his career as sideman in bands,
before forming his own trad jazz band in 1958. His dixieland
band was at the forefront of the early 1960s UK jazz revival.
Ball and his band have enjoyed the longest unbroken spell of success
for bands of their generation. Their traditional, 1960s hits
like "Samantha" and "Midnight in Moscow", remain popular in
dixieland and trumpet circles today. Ball's status rivals
contemporaries Acker Bilk and Chris
Barber. Interestingly, their joint album, The
Best of Ball, Barber and Bilk, reached #1 in the UK
Albums Chart.[1] [2]
In March 1962, Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen reached both #2 on
the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 chart,
and the UK Singles Chart, with "Midnight in
Moscow".
In the U.S. Ball's releases appeared on the Kapp
Records label, although they remain one-hit
wonders in that country. However, such was their popularity in their
homeland, that Ball was featured, alongside Cliff
Richard, Brenda Lee, Joe Brown, Craig
Douglas and Frank Ifield, on the cover
of the pop
music magazine,
NME, in July
1962.
They also appeared in the 1963 film, Live
It Up!.
Ball continues to tour well into the 2000s. He has
charted no fewer than 14 Top 50 hit singles
in the UK alone, the most by any jazz artist.
All such releases were issued on the Pye record label.
In 2001 Ball was part of the recording of an album on the Decca
label. It featured Don Lusher, Acker Bilk, John
Chilton and the Feetwarmers, John
Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton and George
Melly, and was entitled British Jazz Legends
Together.
The Jazzmen
The line-up has changed greatly over the years, but the
following personnel were in situ when the musical
ensemble was at its commercial peak:-
Kenny Ball - (trumpet)
John Bennett - (trombone)
- still in the present day line-up
Dave Jones - (clarinet)
Ron Weatherburn - (piano)
Paddy Lightfoot - (banjo)
Ron Bowden - (drums)
Vic Pitts - (bass)
Reference
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External links
