Kenneth Victor Mackintosh (4 August 1919 – 22 November 2005) was an English saxophonist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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 ...

. He accompanied singers such as

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Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

and Matt Monro.

Early life

Mackintosh was born in Liversedge, Yorkshire. He was born in Halifax Road, near Knowler Hill, and devoted his life to music, after buying his first

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

at the age of 15. His father was an amateur musician.

Career

After a period in the Army, he went to London, and joined various big bands, such as the Oscar Rabin Band. Following the Second World War, he formed his own orchestra, making appearances at the Astoria Ballroom, Nottingham. He brought his band to the Wimbledon Palais in London, touring extensively at home and abroad. He also had great singing strength with such well-versed vocalists as Kenny Bardell, Gordon Langhorn and The Mackpies. His orchestra was featured on BBC Radio almost every week in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1955, he appeared in the BBC Light Programme's "festival of dance music" at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London. A jovial character, Mackintosh enjoyed a joke and told the following story against himself. When travelling to a one-night stand in the West Country, he stopped to give a lift to an RAF serviceman hitch-hiking back to his base near Gloucester. The topic of conversation turned to the young man's appreciation of various entertainments put on by the authorities and how much he had enjoyed the visits of Joe Loss, Johnny Dankworth and Ted Heath. There was one band which he could not stand, however, and that was the one led by Ken Mackintosh, who he thought was "lousy". Before the aircraftsman departed at the gates, Mackintosh handed over his card, whereupon the car was rapidly vacated. Mackintosh also wrote his own music, such as "The Creep" (written under the pseudonym Andy Burton, with Brian Fahey). He had three entries in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1960, with "The Creep" being his highest placed hit record, reaching No. 10 in January 1954. Among his fans was the Queen Mother, for whom he played twice at Windsor Castle. Mackintosh also dedicated a great deal of his time to helping local musicians. During the late 1980s, Mackintosh would hold sax quintet practise evenings at his house on Streatham Common, as well as holding big band practice nights at the church hall next to his favourite pub, The Pied Bull. Towards the end of his life he was awarded the

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of London. Until the months before his death, he was still occasionally playing and leading a local orchestra.

Personal life and death

In 1944, Mackintosh married Elsie Burton; the couple had a son and daughter. Elsie died in 1986, predeceasing her husband. Mackintosh was an "enthusiastic

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", and restored vintage cars with the skills he had learnt during the war in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

machine workshops. Mackintosh died in Mitcham,

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. ...

, in November 2005, aged 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackintosh, Ken 1919 births 2005 deaths English bandleaders English saxophonists British male saxophonists Musicians from Yorkshire People from Liversedge 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century British male musicians Oscar Rabin Band members British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Service Corps soldiers