Robert Valentine Lamb (born 11 February 1931) is an Irish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trombonist, composer, and conductor. A native of Cork, Lamb lived in London for much of his career. In the 1950s, he played trombone for

Jack Parnell John Russell Parnell (6 August 1923 – 8 August 2010) was an English musician and musical director. Biography Parnell was born into a theatrical family in London, England. His uncle was the theatrical impresario Val Parnell. During hi ...

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

, and Geraldo. After playing for the

BBC Radio Orchestra The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1964 until 1991. The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1964 as a large, flexible studio orchestra on the Nelson Riddle/H ...

for much of the 1960s, Lamb began co-leading an orchestra with Ray Premru and accompanying recording artists such as Frank Sinatra. Beginning in the 1980s, Lamb taught music at the Trinity College of Music and conducted national level orchestras, including the European Community Youth Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

Early life

Born in 1931 in Cork, then in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

, Lamb started on

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

as a teenager before settling on trombone. In 1951, Lamb moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

to perform with Neil Kearn's band for six months and later Johnny Devlin's Downbeaters group.

Career

In 1952, Lamb moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he played with

Teddy Foster Teddy Fernando Foster (born 5 May 1955) is a former international cricketer who represented the United States national cricket team, American national team at the 1986 ICC Trophy. He was born in Barbados, and before emigrating to the U.S. represe ...

. From late-1953 to August 1955, Lamb was a member of

's band. After working with Parnell, Lamb relocated to the U.S., working with

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Skyliner", " Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffl ...

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

, and

. During his three-year stint with Herman, Lamb played in a tour where Herman shared billing with Louis Armstrong's All Stars. In 1958, Lamb returned to London to join the BBC Show Band with

Cyril Stapleton Cyril Stapleton (31 December 1914 – 25 February 1974) was an English violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Born Horace Cyril Stapleton in Mapperley, Nottingham, England, Stapleton began playing violin at the age of seven, and played on loc ...

. From 1958 to 1959, Lamb was part of Geraldo's orchestra that regularly performed at the

Hippodrome The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...

before freelancing with various other theatre orchestras. From 1960 to 1968, Lamb played for the

. He and Ray Premru co-led an orchestra starting in the late 1960s, in which they worked with

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

, Louie Bellson, and Kenny Clare, among others. Lamb made his first recording as a composer in 1970, ''The Children Of Lir'', for which he won an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

. During the 1970s, Lamb also played in the ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' orchestra conducted by

Johnny Pearson John Valmore Pearson (18 June 1925 – 20 March 2011) was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist. He led the ''Top of the Pops'' orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the ...

. He toured with Frank Sinatra on his European tours from the 1970s into the 1980s and the Middle East concerts (

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and Israel) in 1975. Lamb also toured Europe with

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and Peggy Lee. He toured Scandinavia with Buddy Rich late in the 1970s. Outside of jazz, Lamb wrote several works for orchestra, including an arrangement of ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', it ...

''. He also worked extensively for film and television across Europe. Lamb also conducted orchestras, including the European Community Youth Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and

NDR Symphony Orchestra The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra (german: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester) is a German radio orchestra. Affiliated with the '' Norddeutscher Rundfunk'' (NDR; North German Broadcasting), the orchestra is based at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, G ...

of Germany. During his career, Lamb performed in over 6,000 live broadcasts, 200 film soundtracks, and numerous television programmes. In 1982, Lamb was appointed as director of jazz studies at the Trinity College of Music in London. Lamb became professor of contemporary music studies at

Hochschule für Musik Detmold The Hochschule für Musik Detmold is a university-level music school situated in Detmold, Germany. Academics The Hochschule offers performance degrees in composition, all orchestral instruments, piano, voice, opera, art-song, conducting, as we ...

in Germany in 1994. Lamb retired from his position at Trinity in 2007.

Discography

* ''Trinity Fair'' ( Hep, 1995) As sideman * 1957 ''Live Featuring Bill Harris, Vol. 1'',

* 1970 ''Louie in London'', Louie Bellson * 1970 ''Movements'', Johnny Harris * 1973 '' Song for Someone'',

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...

* 1986 ''Eurojazz'', European Community Jazz Orchestra * 1990 ''Live Featuring Bill Harris, Vol. 2'', Woody Herman * 1996 ''My Huckleberry Friend'', Johnny Mercer * 1998 ''Electrician's Hall Miami, Florida, Vol. 2'', Woody Herman * 2004 ''The Musical Worlds of Laurie Johnson'', Laurie Johnson * 2005 ''Chitinous'', Chitinous Ensemble * 2005 ''Moon River'', Johnny Mercer * 2006 ''Jazz Guitarist''

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou" ...

* 2007 ''Spiral'', Harry Roche Constellation * 2007 ''The Little Giant'',

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Bobby Irish jazz musicians Living people 1931 births Jazz trombonists Musicians from Cork (city) Irish composers Irish conductors (music)