Grace Elizabeth Agnes Annie Cole (8 September 1924 – 28 December 2006) was a British

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er and bandleader. She was lead soloist in

Ivy Benson Ivy Benson (11 November 1913 – 6 May 1993) was an English musician and bandleader, who led an all-female swing band. Benson and her band gained prominence in the 1940s, headlining variety theatres and topping the bill at the London Palladium, ...

's all-girls band during the 1940s, going on to form her own all-female band in the 1950s.

Early life

Gracie Cole was born on 8 September 1924 in

Rowlands Gill Rowlands Gill is a town situated along the A694, between Winlaton Mill and Hamsterley Mill, on the north bank of the River Derwent, in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Within Gateshead's greenbelt, the town has a ...

, County Durham. Her father Albert moved to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in search of work as a miner when Gracie was two years old. Albert played cornet in

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

bands, and taught Gracie to play the cornet at the age of 12. Gracie played with local brass bands in her teens, including the Firbeck Colliery Band alongside her father. In 1939 aged 15, she made her first broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

for Children's Hour.

Career

From 1940, Cole appeared as a guest soloist in two concerts with the Besses o' th' Barn brass band, and played with various other bands including the

Grimethorpe Colliery Band The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. Along with the Blac ...

. In 1942 she became the first woman to compete for the Alexander Owen memorial scholarship, and won by an unprecedented 21-point margin. Later in 1942 Cole switched to being a

dance band ''Dance Band'' is a 1935 British musical film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers, June Clyde and Steven Geray. It was shot at Welwyn Studios with sets designed by the art director David Rawnsley. Plot When dance band ...

trumpeter, initially joining Gloria Gaye's All Girls Band, who toured playing theatres and forces entertainment shows organised by the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). She then joined Rudy Starlita's All-American band, entertaining American

G.I. G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Force and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or " ...

s. In November 1945 she joined

's band as lead trumpet and soloist, and toured with them for the next five years, headlining at

variety theatre Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

s in Britain and touring Europe and the Middle East with ENSA. The band also featured on television and radio, including their own radio series ''Ladies Night'', and on Christmas Day 1945 Cole was the featured soloist on a live broadcast from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

immediately after

the King's speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...

. In 1951 she married Bill Geldard, a

trombonist The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

with the George Evans Band, and accepted an invitation to join the previously all-male band. After 18 months she and Geldard left to join the Squadronaires, the most influential

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

of the time, where she was again the only woman. However Cole found the male prejudice she experienced there made life uncomfortable, and she left to form her own all-female band, which she fronted between 1952 and 1956. The band performed

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 ...

and pop, and broadcast with guest singers including Cleo Laine. In 1958 she led an all-male band at Mecca Ballrooms. From the 1960s Cole concentrated on bringing up her two daughters and played on a freelance basis. She was active in encouraging local brass bands, and was made a

freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 1990.

Later life

Cole developed Alzheimer's disease towards the end of the 1990s. She died on 28 December 2006 in

Westcott, Surrey Westcott is a semi-rural English village and former civil parish west of the centre of Dorking on the A25 between the North Downs and Greensand Ridge, making it one of the 'Vale of Holmesdale' villages (greatly in Westcott an AONB) and is in ...

aged 82.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Gracie 1924 births 2006 deaths People from Rowlands Gill Musicians from Tyne and Wear English trumpeters English cornetists English bandleaders 20th-century trumpeters