Midnite Follies Orchestra was formed in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1978, by

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 major ...

musicians

Keith Nichols Keith Nichols (13 February 1945 – 21 January 2021) was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist and arranger, a player of the piano, trombone, reeds, and accordion. Biography Born in Ilford, Essex, England, Nichols was a child actor and an a ...

and Alan Cohen, dedicated to recreating standards by some of early jazz musicians. The orchestra more or less disbanded in the 1990s. The Midnite Follies Orchestra had showcased a variety of musicians over the years, including Nick Stevenson,

Digby Fairweather Richard John Charles "Digby" Fairweather (born 25 April 1946) is a British jazz cornetist, author and broadcaster. Biography Before becoming a professional musician, Fairweather was a librarian and has retained an interest in jazz bibliograph ...

Alan Elsdon Alan Elsdon (15 October 1934 – 2 May 2016) was an English jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist. Biography Elsdon was born in London on 15 October 1934. He studied trumpet under Tommy McQuater. His early professional work included time with Cy La ...

, Dave Savill, Laurie Chescoe, Keith Greville,

Randolph Colville Randolph Colville (23 May 1942 – 15 January 2004) was a Scottish jazz swing clarinettist, saxophonist, bandleader and arranger, perhaps best known for his work with the Keith Nichols' Midnite Follies Orchestra. He was born in Glasgow, Sco ...

, Olaf Vas, Mac White, Will Hastie,

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to cent ...

, Gordon Blundy and Peter Strange. During the orchestra's active years, it was often featured on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

Background

The group was put together by Keith Nichols with co-leader Alan Cohen. Members Laurie Chescoe and Will Hastie had been members of Eric Allandale's New Orleans Knights band in the early 1960s.

Later years

Keith Nichols died on January 20, 2021. A tribute to Keith Nichols has been organized for Wed 20 Sep 2023 at the Main club. Participating musicians include, Johnny M. on vocals, Mike Henry, Enrico Tomasso, and Pete Rudeforth on trumpets, Alistair Allan, and Andy Flaxman on trombones, Michael McQuaid, Robert Fowler, and David Horniblow on saxophones. The rhythm section includes, Martin Litton on piano, Thomas "Spats" Langham on sousaphone, Graham Read on double bass and Richard Pite on drums.

Discography

Single

* "No Strings" / "

Minnie the Moocher "Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz- scat song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over a million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed (" scat") lyrics (for example, "Hi De Hi De Hi ...

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EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, Odeon ODO 101 - 1978

Albums

*''Hotter Than Hades'' - EMI, Odeon ODN 1001 - 1978 *''Jungle Nights in Harlem'' - ASV ALA 3002 - 1981Music Metason
ArtistInfo, The Midnite Follies Orchestra Discography
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References

British jazz musicians Musical groups established in 1978 {{UK-band-stub