Richard Anthony Charlesworth (8 January 1932 – 15 April 2008) was an English jazz

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

tist, saxophonist and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

Biography

Charlesworth was born and brought up in Sheffield and attended King Edward VII School. At 16, he became a clerk in the

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and was in due course transferred to London. He bought a clarinet and started playing jazz as a hobby in 1952-53.Times Obituaries ''Dick Charlesworth'' 19 April 2008
/ref> He was entirely self-taught, but became good enough to play clarinet and saxophone in a dance band and perform with jazz bands in south LondonThe Guardian Obituaries ''Dick Charlesworth'' Thursday 22 May 2008
/ref> including Jim Weller’s Jazzmen. He formed his first group in 1956 while still doing his day job, and his 'Dick Charlesworth's Jazzmen' won the South London Jazz Band Championship in 1957. Charlesworth's group was signed by the

Melodisc Melodisc Records was a record label founded by Emil E. Shalit in the late 1940s. It was one of the first independent record labels in the UK and the parent company of the Blue Beat label. History Melodisc records was founded by Austrian-born A ...

label, and they recorded an EP in December 1957 and produced an album for Doug Dobell's 77 Records. Charlesworth left the Civil Service in 1959 and became a professional musician. He signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with EMI and his group was remarketed as 'Dick Charlesworth's City Gents'. This was the time when light jazz was popular in the British

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as typified by Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball, also attired in distinctive costumes. Charlesworth's group sported pin stripes and bowler hats, and had a Latin motto, Dum vivimus vivamus, (“While we live, let us enjoy life”). Their only chart single was "Billy Boy",which reached 43 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1961. The City Gents often appeared on television including '' The Morecambe and Wise Show'' and '' Sunday Night at the London Palladium''. Charlesworth sang the title song of a comedy

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, ''

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'', starring Leslie Phillips and featured in his own 15 minute musical short in 1963. However the British

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scene changed significantly in the early sixties and jazz went out of vogue. Charlesworth broke up his band, and from 1964 to 1969 worked for P & O fronting a band on the cruise liners Canberra and Orsova. He then settled in Mojacar, in Spain where he ran a music bar until he returned to Britain in 1977. He was active on the London jazz scene until the early 2000s. He worked with many artists including Keith Smith, Rod Mason,

Alan Littlejohn Alan Littlejohn (4 January 1928 – 12 November 1996)Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian. ''Jazz: The Rough Guide''. Penguin, 1995. . p. 390 was a British jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and bandleader born in London, England, most notab ...

and Denny Wright. He appeared on the BBC Radio series, ''Jazz Score'', a quiz show which encouraged its participants to relate anecdotes about their lives in jazz. In his later years, Charlesworth lived in Thames Ditton,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and played a residency at the George and Dragon pub every Tuesday with his band "The Dick Charlesworth's Fraternity Four", and also at various other local pubs. The Dick Charleworth's Fraternity Four included Alan Dandy (piano), John Rodber (bass guitar) and Don Cook (drums) and they released their final recording in August 2004. Charlesworth died following a heart attack in April 2008, at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlesworth, Dick 1932 births 2008 deaths English jazz clarinetists People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield People from Thames Ditton