Denis Rose (May 31, 1922,

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– November 22, 1984,

) was an English

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 major ...

pianist and trumpeter. He was a longtime fixture on the London jazz scene and was an early influence on British

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

.Stan Britt, "Denis Rose". '' Grove Jazz'' online. Rose played with

Johnny Claes Octave John Claes (11 August 1916 – 3 February 1956) was an English-born racing driver who competed for Belgium. Before his fame as a racing driver, Claes was also a jazz trumpeter and successful bandleader in Britain. Early life and jazz ...

in the 1940s, but dodged

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and did little performing over the course of the war. He worked with

Cab Kaye Nii-lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye (3 September 1921 – 13 March 2000), known professionally as Cab Kaye, was an English jazz singer and pianist of Ghanaian descent. He combined blues, stride piano, and scat with his Ghanaian heritage. Youth ...

's Ministers of Swing late in 1948, then organized

jam sessions A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

with British musicians such as

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

in the late 1940s and early 1950s, many of which took place at

Club Eleven Club Eleven was a nightclub in London between 1948 and 1950 which played a significant role in the emergence of the bebop jazz movement in Britain. The club was so named because it had 11 founders – business manager Harry Morris and ten Britis ...

. Rose recorded very little, though he did a session with Scott in 1949 for

Esquire Records Esquire Records was an Australian record label based in Sydney. In 1951 it acquired the Australian and New Zealand distribution rights for Discovery Records and later that year the distribution rights for Prestige Records. In 1955 Esquire acquire ...

. He continued to perform locally in London for several decades, and recorded with

Maggie Nicols Maggie Nicols (or Nichols, as she originally spelled her name as a performer) (born 24 February 1948), is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer. Early life and career Nicols was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as Mar ...

in the early 1970s.

References

1922 births 1984 deaths British jazz pianists Musicians from London 20th-century pianists 20th-century English musicians {{UK-pianist-stub