Ken Sykora (13 April 1923 – 7 March 2006), born Charles Kenneth Sykora, was an English

jazz guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using Guitar amplifier, electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their ...

ist and

radio presenter A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

Family life and education

Sykora had two older sisters. He studied geography at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he organized the Cambridge University Band Society. He then studied business and economics at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

War service, career and music

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was a

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

officer in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. After the war, he taught in London at the London School of Economics and the

College for Distributive Trades The College for the Distributive Trades was a technical training college in London. It was founded as the Westminster Day Continuation School in 1921. In 1986 it was one of the seven London art colleges which became part of the new London Inst ...

. Influenced by guitarist

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

, he led his own band in the 1950s, appearing with other bandleaders such as

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath also served for 51 year ...

. During this time he appeared on the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' reader's poll for best British jazz guitarist for five consecutive years and won it twice. Following his move to

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

he worked on radio for the BBC. He hosted the BBC programme ''Guitar Club''. For

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

, he created and presented the programme series ''Be My Guest'', interviewing

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and

Gloria Swanson Gloria Mae Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for h ...

, among others. In January 1962 he was a guest on ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''.

Personal life

He had a short first marriage to Margery Mileham whom he had married in 1947. He married his second wife,

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

singer Helen B. Grant, in 1957 in Westminster. The couple moved to Suffolk, where their three children were born. In the 1970s, Sykora and his family moved to Scotland, where the couple ran the Colintraive Hotel in

Colintraive Colintraive () is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Once the site where cattle were swum across the narrows to the Isle of Bute, the MV ''Loch Dunvegan'' — a ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne — now provides a link to the islan ...

on the

Kyles of Bute The Kyles of Bute () form a narrow sea channel that separates the northern end of the Isle of Bute from the Cowal, Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The surrounding hillsides are roughly wooded, and overlook ...

. After five years, they sold the hotel. The Sykoras then moved to Blairmore in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

, and he continued to produce music programmes for

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

and for

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Baue ...

. Sykora died in Blairmore on 7 March 2006. In 2012, Linda Chirrey and Marc Mason created a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about his life and career, '' The Man with the Jazz Guitar''.

Discography

* 1954 ''The Passing Stranger (from the film "The Passing Stranger")'', Lonnie Donegan, Oriole Records Ltd, CB 1329 * 1956 ''The Third Festival of British Jazz'', The Jazz Today Unit, Decca LP LK4180 * 1957 ''Ain’t it a Shame (to sing Skiffle on a Sunday)'', The Bob Cort Skiffle featuring Ken Sykora, DDECCA LP LK4222 * 1957 ''Six-Five Special'', The Bob Cort Skiffle, Decca F 10892 * 1958 ''Ken Sykora presents Guitar Club volume 1'', Ken Sykora, Saga ESAG 7001 * 1958 ''Ken Sykora presents Guitar Club volume 2'', Ken Sykora, Saga ESAG 7002 * 1958 ''Ken Sykora presents Guitar Club volume 3'', Ken Sykora, Saga ESAG 7003 * 1987 ''Vic Lewis Jam Sessions, Volume 5: 1938 - 1946'', Vic Lewis, Harlequin Records HQ 3012 * 2012 ''The Man with the Jazz Guitar'', Ken Sykora, Five Feet Films FFF2CD01

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykora, Ken 1923 births 2006 deaths English jazz guitarists English male guitarists BBC radio presenters Musicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Fulham 20th-century British guitarists 20th-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians Alumni of the University of Cambridge