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 electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound to be hear ...

ist and

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) 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, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

. Sykora had two older sisters: Rose M. Sykora, born in 1911, shortly after her parents' marriage, and Clara Phyllis Sykora. He studied geography at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

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

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. 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 ...

, he served as an

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

officer in the

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

. 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 Instit ...

. Influenced by guitarist

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

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

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, 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 a ...

. 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. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' reader's poll for best British jazz guitarist for five consecutive years and won it twice. 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, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

singer Helen B. Grant, in 1957 in Westminster. The couple moved to

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, where their three children were born: one daughter, Alison (born 1961), and two sons, Ian Dougal (born 1963) and Duncan (born 1960). During this time he worked on radio for the BBC. He hosted the popular 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 most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

, 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, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

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 students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

and

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. 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 f ...

, 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 recordings (usu ...

''. In the 1970s, Sykora and his family moved to Scotland, where the couple ran the

Colintraive Hotel The Colintraive Hotel (also known as The Colintraive) is a hotel and pub in Colintraive, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was formerly a hunting lodge for John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute. It stands a few yards from the eastern shores o ...

Colintraive Colintraive ( gd, Caol an t-Snàimh) 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 ...

on the

Kyles of Bute The Kyles of Bute ( gd, Na Caoil Bhòdach) form a narrow sea channel that separates the northern end of the Isle of Bute from the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the Scottish mainland. The surrounding hillsides are roughly wooded, and ove ...

. After five years, he sold the hotel, as Helen, who had a drinking problem, had struggled with such ready access to alcohol. The Sykoras then moved to Blairmore in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, and he continued to produce music programmes for

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish 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 November 197 ...

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, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...

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

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

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 People from Fulham 20th-century British guitarists 20th-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians Alumni of the University of Cambridge