Spike Wells
Michael "Spike" Wells (born 16 January 1946) is an English jazz drummer and priest. Biography Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Wells was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He became interested in jazz after coming across a recording by Dizzy Gillespie, which he found "very exciting". He took up playing drums in his early teens: "I suppose the thing that really knocked me out about jazz was the rhythm, so I thought if I'm going to be in a jazz band I want to be the drummer."Peter Vacher, "Priest who plays, drummer who prays", ''Jazz UK'', 77 (October/November 2007), pp. 23–24. He later had lessons from former Miles Davis drummer Philly Joe Jones, who lived in London in 1967–69, and Wells was also very influenced by another of Davis's drummers, Tony Williams. Wells read Greats at Oxford University, where he put together a quartet with tenor player Pat Crumly and pianist Brian Priestley that played with visitors including saxophonists Bobby Wellins, Tony Coe an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. The town was a spa in the Restoration and a fashionable resort in the mid-1700s under Beau Nash when the Pantiles, and its chalybeate spring, attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity as a spa town waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town still derives much of its income from tourism. The town has a population of around 56,500, and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and in the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. History Iron Age Evidence suggests that Iron Age people farmed the fields and mined the iron-rich rocks in the Tunbridge Wells area, and excavations in 1940 and 1957–61 by James Money at High Rocks uncovered the remains of a defensive hill-fort. It is thought that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bobby Wellins
Robert Coull Wellins (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2016) was a Scottish tenor saxophonist who collaborated with Stan Tracey on the album ''Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood"'' (1965). Biography Robert Coull Wellins was born into a showbiz family living in the Gorbals, Glasgow; he later lived in Carnwadric and attended Shawlands Academy. Wellins studied alto saxophone and harmony with his father Max, and also played piano and clarinet when young. He joined the RAF as a musician playing tenor sax. After demobilisation he played with a few Scottish bands before moving to London in the mid-1950s. He was a member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's quintet between 1956 and 1957, together with Kenny Wheeler. Around that time Wellins also joined drummer Tony Crombie's Jazz Inc., where he first met pianist Stan Tracey, joining Tracey's quartet in the early 1960s. He also worked with Lionel Grigson in 1976. At the end of the 1970s he was a member of the Jim Richardson Qu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Troubadour (London)
The Troubadour is a nightclub, restaurant and pub located at 265 Old Brompton Road, Earls Court, London. Established in 1954, it is one of the oldest and last remaining nightclubs and coffee houses of its era in London. It still offers live music seven days a week. Financial troubles The Troubadour was in danger of closure due to financial difficulties after being served with a noise abatement notice in 2012, related to use of the garden. In 2015, ownership was taken over by shareholder Giles McNamee, who has indicated there will be future investments to keep the club open. Ownership The Troubadour has had four proprietors since its opening: *1954–72, Michael Van Bloemen and Sheila Van Bloemen, founders of the venue *1972–98, Bruce Rogerson *1998–2015, Simon Thornhill and Susie Thornhill. *2015–present, Giles McNamee Artists The club has played host to a number of major artists in various stages of their careers. Among these have been: *Richard Harris – in early 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lionel Grigson
Lionel Grigson (12 February 1942 – 14 June 1994) was an English jazz pianist, cornettist, trumpeter, composer, writer and teacher, who in the 1980s started the jazz course at the Guildhall School of Music. As Simon Purcell wrote in ''The Independent'', "Whether he inspired or inflamed, Grigson's energies often acted as a catalyst and his interest in, and support for, young jazz musicians contributed significantly to the growth and consolidation of jazz education in Britain....Within the context of a leading international conservatoire, the Guildhall School of Music, in London, Grigson did much to demonstrate and explain the underlying principles common to jazz, classical and indeed all music, and as a result produced a generation of jazz educators possessing a thorough grounding in an area where much educational work is left to chance." [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Louis Stewart (guitarist)
Louis Stewart (5 January 1944 – 20 August 2016) was an Irish jazz guitarist. Life and career Born in Waterford, Ireland, Stewart grew up in Dublin. He began playing guitar when he was thirteen, influenced by guitarists Les Paul and Barney Kessel. Stewart began his professional career performing in Dublin showbands. In 1968, he won an award as the most outstanding soloist at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Soon after, he spent three years with Benny Goodman. Stewart recorded his debut album, ''Louis the First'' in Dublin, and then recorded in London with Billy Higgins, Peter Ind, Sam Jones (musician), Sam Jones, Red Mitchell, and Spike Robinson. From the mid to late 1970s, he worked with George Shearing, touring America, Brazil, and playing European festivals, and recording eight albums, including several for the MPS label in a virtuosic trio with Shearing and the Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Stewart has also appeared on albums by Joe Williams (jazz singer), Joe W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tubby Hayes
Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes (30 January 1935 – 8 June 1973) was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his tenor saxophone playing in groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and with trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar. Early life Hayes was born in St Pancras, London, England, and brought up in London. His father was a BBC studio violinist who gave his son violin lessons from an early age. By the age of ten, Hayes was playing the piano, and started on the tenor sax at 11. Dizzy Gillespie was an early influence: I always used to listen to swing music in the early 'Forties and, in fact, I was just a kid at the time. I did not really intend becoming a tenor player, though I always liked tenor. I think maybe Dizzy influenced me more than Parker because he was sort of more accessible, he caught your attention more. As far as my influences over the years are concerned, Getz was it at one stage in the proceedings, and later Rollins, Coltrane, Hank Mobley and, to a lesser d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mick Pyne
Mick Pyne (2 September 1940, in Thornton-le-Dale – 23 May 1995, in London) was an English jazz pianist. His brother was jazz musician Chris Pyne. He learned piano from a very early age and could also play cornet and violin. He and his brother Chris formed their own band as teenagers before Mick moved to London from 1959 to 1961. He played briefly with Tony Kinsey in 1962, then played U.S. military bases in France, in addition to working with Alexis Korner, from 1962 to 1963. Returning to London at the end of 1963, Pyne worked in the 1960s with John Stevens, Phil Seamen, and extensively with Tubby Hayes, in addition to doing European tours with Stan Getz, Roland Kirk, Lee Konitz, Hank Mobley, and Joe Williams. In the 1970s he worked with Hayes as well as with Ronnie Scott, Humphrey Lyttelton, John Eardley and Cecil Payne. In the 1980s Pyne's associations included Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Pyne
Christopher Norman "Chris" Pyne (14 February 1939, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England – 12 April 1995, London) was an English jazz trombonist. Biography Pyne was the elder brother of Mick Pyne, and played piano as a child before switching to trombone. He played with Fat John Cox (1963), Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated (1964–65), John Stevens's Spontaneous Music Ensemble (1965–66), and the London Jazz Orchestra before beginning work with Humphrey Lyttelton in 1966, with whom he played until 1970, recording along the way with John Dankworth (1967), Ronnie Scott (1968), and Stan Tracey (1968–70). Pyne played with Mike Gibbs on and off from 1967 to 1979, and toured with Frank Sinatra's backing bands between 1970 and 1983; additionally, he was in John Taylor's sextet between 1971 and 1981. Other associations in the 1970s include Kenny Wheeler (1969, 1973), John Surman (1970), Philly Joe Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Tony Coe (1976), Bobby Lamb, Ray Premru ( ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ray Warleigh
Raymond Kenneth Warleigh (28 September 1938 – 21 September 2015) was an Australian alto saxophonist and flautist. Biography Ray Warleigh was born in Sydney, Australia, and migrated to England in 1960, where he quickly established himself as an in-demand session musician. He played and recorded with major figures and bands of the UK jazz and blues scene, including Alexis Korner, Tubby Hayes, Humphrey Lyttelton, Terry Smith, Ronnie Scott, Long John Baldry, John Mayall, Keef Hartley, Allan Holdsworth, Soft Machine, Georgie Fame, Mike Westbrook, Dick Morrissey and Kenny Wheeler, as well as Mike Oldfield, Nick Drake, and Charlie Watts. He accompanied visiting artists such as Champion Jack Dupree. According to John Fordham in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "Ray Warleigh brought a unique touch to every venture he played on from the 60s on, and had a successful 30-year career that partnered him with Dusty Springfield, Marianne Faithfull, Scott Walker and Stevie Wonder, among others." [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ron Mathewson
Rognvald Andrew Mathewson (19 February 1944 – 3 December 2020) was a British jazz double bassist and bass guitarist. During his career, Mathewson performed with Ronnie Scott, but also recorded with Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Joan Armatrading, Ben Webster, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Eldridge, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. Biography Mathewson was born in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, into an unusually musical household. At eight years old he was studying classical piano. He continued to study and perform classical piano until he reached sixteen, having started playing bass guitar a year earlier. His talent was noted and encouraged by the Shetland musician, Peerie Willie Johnson. In 1962, Mathewson was in Germany, playing professionally with a band that played Dixieland music. In London, he also performed with various jazz and R&B bands throughout the early 1960s. Around this time he was also a member of The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band. In 1966, Mathewson became a member of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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London University
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree-awarding examination board for students holding certificates from University College London and King's College London and "other such other Institutions, corporate or unincorporated, as shall be established for the purpose of Education, whether within the Metropolis or elsewhere within our United Kingdom". This fact allows it to be one of three institutions to claim the title of the third-oldest university in England, and moved to a federal structure in 1900. It is now incorporated by its fourth (1863) royal charter and governed by the University of London Act 2018. It was the first university in the United Kingdom to introduce examinations for women in 1869 and, a decade later, the first to admit women to degrees. In 1913, it appointed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some sources claim the term was coined by Pythagoras ( BCE), although this theory is disputed by some. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and systematic presentation. in . Historically, ''philosophy'' encompassed all bodies of knowledge and a practitioner was known as a ''philosopher''."The English word "philosophy" is first attested to , meaning "knowledge, body of knowledge." "natural philosophy," which began as a discipline in ancient India and Ancient Greece, encompasses astronomy, medicine, and physics. For example, Newton's 1687 ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'' later became classified as a book of physics. In the 19th century, the growth of modern research universiti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |