The Pasadena Roof Orchestra (PRO) is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the

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 ...

and swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed since 1969, although the line-up has frequently changed. It has achieved success outside the United Kingdom, most notably in Germany.

Brief history

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra was so named in November 1969 by John Arthy, a baker who played the double bass and sousaphone, and who had taken over the Creole Dance Orchestra (first formed in 1965) in which he played bass and sousaphone, from Chris Macdonald, its founder. Arthy purchased a cache of original musical arrangements dating from the 1920s stored in the attic of a lady in Manchester, and the strength of this find reinvigorated the flagging fortunes of the earlier band. The new name of the band was inspired by

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

's "

Home in Pasadena "Home in Pasadena" is a song with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Grant Clarke and Edgar Leslie."Home i ...

". There had been a strong revival movement for music of the 1920s in the late 1950s and early 1960s (known as the Trad movement – bands included

The Temperance Seven The Temperance Seven is a British band originally active in the 1960s, specialising in 1920s-style jazz music. They were known for their surreal performances. Career The Temperance Seven was founded at Christmas 1955 by students at the Chels ...

); however, Arthy continued to move this band in a different direction to most of the revivalists, away from humour and towards more serious, dedicated renditions of the music. The orchestra's first vocalist was John "Pazz" Parry, an old friend of Arthy's (the two had both been members of the Creole Dance Orchestra from 1965). With the injection of the new arrangements, Arthy as Bandleader, also performing on the double bass and

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...

, the PRO soon grew in popularity. The orchestra became professional in 1975. Their first LP for Transatlantic was recorded in August 1974 and released in December of that year, premiering at the

Midem Midem is the acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l'Édition Musicale, which is organised annually in and around the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. The trade show, organized by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Re ...

music fair in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

in 1975. The orchestra followed this by touring

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

(where the revival movement was incredibly popular) in the Autumn of that year. The orchestra toured the United States in 1993 and 2001 (their 25th Anniversary album cover featured a photo of the band in front of the Santa Fe train station in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

). They have worked with musicians including

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

(in 2005) and

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

(in 2000). Although John Arthy retired in 1997, the band continues to tour extensively and record with bandleader and singer Duncan Galloway. In 2009, the orchestra toured Great Britain and Germany.

Orchestra members

Whilst literally hundreds of the UK's finest jazz musicians have on occasion performed with the Orchestra, this is a timeline of the regular members. ImageSize = width:1000 height:1300 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:25 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1969 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1969 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:vt value:yelloworange legend:Vocal_Trio id:alt1 value:lightpurple legend:Alto_1_/_Clar._/_Bari. id:alt2 value:purple legend:Alto_2_/_Clar. id:ten value:magenta legend:Tenor_/_Clar. id:tpt1 value:oceanblue legend:Trumpet_1 id:tpt2 value:blue legend:Trumpet_2 id:tbn value:darkblue legend:Trombone id:pno value:teal legend:Piano id:gtr value:kelleygreen legend:Guitar_/_Banjo id:bs value:redorange legend:Bass_/_Sousa id:dr value:claret legend:Drums id:vln value:tan2 legend:Violin id:eng value:gray(0.3) legend:Sound_Eng. id:rec value:black legend:Recording LineData = layer:back width:0.5 frompos:120 tillpos:1300 at:07/05/1972 #Stomp Records ROBB 008 at:25/08/1974 #Transatlantic TRA286, BIG521 and Metronome 0900.091 at:01/10/1974 #Transatlantic BIG521, TEP1 at:01/05/1975 #Transatlantic TRA 301 and Metronome 0900.091 at:05/12/1975 #Transatlantic TRA314 and Metronome 0064.018 at:01/09/1976 #Transatlantic TRA335 at:21/09/1976 #Transatlantic TEP1 at:15/07/1977 #Metronome 0064.010 at:01/04/1978 #CBS 82751 at:12/09/1978 #Metronome 0030.304 at:01/12/1978 #CBS 83220 at:01/07/1979 #Metronome 0900.179 at:01/07/1980 #Metronome 0030.304 at:22/08/1981 #Aves/Intercord 146.540 at:01/06/1983 #Reward Records FW39135 at:27/07/1984 #Pasadena Records ARC-1018 at:11/09/1986 #CD PRO 1 at:01/08/1988 #Polydor CD LP Cass at:28/06/1989 #CD PRO 2 Live at Salisbury Playhouse at:16/05/1991 #CD PRO 3 at:05/11/1992 #Kavan Records CD81911 Copenhagen at:26/11/1992 #Kavan VHS9356 Live at Falconer Theatre with Swing Sisters at:01/11/1993 #CD PRO 4 and Kavan Records CD81353 at:01/05/1996 #CD PRO 5 at:30/07/1998 #CD PRO 6 at:22/08/1999 #DVD PRO Live in Regents Park at:28/03/2002 #CD PRO 7 at:06/11/2007 #CD PRO 8 at:26/02/2010 #Licensed to Swing at:10/03/2011 #Christmas Album at:20/06/2013 #Ladies and Gentlemen at:08/05/2016 #Live in London at:01/01/2021 #Back on the Road - actual date TBC PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from # vocals bar:John 'Pazz' Parry from:start till:31/12/1978 color:voc #end guess from discography bar:Robin Merrill from:01/01/1979 till:31/12/1988 color:voc #start and end guess from discography bar:Duncan Galloway from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1994 color:voc #start and end guess from discography bar:James Langton from:01/01/1995 till:31/12/2001 color:voc #start and end guess from discography bar:Duncan Galloway from:01/01/2002 till:end color:voc #start guess from discography bar:Louise Cookman from:01/02/2002 till:01/02/2008 color:voc #VERIFIED LC email # alto 1 bar:Josephine Gurr from:start till:31/03/1972 color:alt1 #end guess from Chris Macdonald's History of the Creole Dance Orchestra / PRO bar:Andrew Pummell from:01/04/1972 till:30/06/1997 color:alt1 #end guess from discography bar:Nicholas Payton from:01/07/1997 till:31/12/2002 color:alt1 #start and end guess from discography bar:Steve Kaldestad from:01/01/2003 till:31/12/2007 color:alt1 #start guess from discography bar:Robert Fowler from:01/01/2008 till:end color:alt1 #VERIFIED RF verbal # alto 2 bar:Ken Hughes from:start till:30/09/1975 color:alt2 #end guess from discography bar:Mac White from:01/10/1975 till:23/09/1981 color:alt2 #start guess from discography bar:Alan Barnes from:24/09/1981 till:23/01/1983 color:alt2 #VERIFIED AB email (dates from diary) bar:Keith Gemmell from:24/01/1983 till:30/06/1996 color:alt2 bar:Keith Gemmell from:01/01/1984 till:30/06/1996 color:vt width:3 bar:Paul Jones from:01/10/1999 till:30/09/2003 color:alt2 #start verified PJ email, end guess from discography bar:Dai Pritchard from:01/04/2004 till:end color:alt2 #VERIFIED DP email # tenor bar:Chris Macdonald from:start till:31/08/1974 color:ten #VERIFIED CM (from History of the Creole Dance Orchestra / PRO) bar:Clive Payne from:01/09/1974 till:30/09/1975 color:ten #end guess from discography bar:Frank White from:01/10/1975 till:31/12/1984 color:ten #start and end guess from discography bar:Howard Turner from:01/01/1985 till:31/07/1986 color:ten #start guess from discography bar:Robert Fowler from:01/08/1986 till:30/06/1996 color:ten #VERIFIED RF verbal bar:Keith Gemmell from:01/07/1996 till:31/12/1997 color:ten #end guess from discography bar:James Scannell from:01/01/1998 till:31/08/2001 color:ten #start guess from discography bar:Oliver Wilby from:01/09/2001 till:end color:ten #VERIFIED OW verbal # trumpet 1 bar:Tony Cooke from:start till:30/11/1974 color:tpt1 #end guess from discography bar:Derek Wood from:01/01/1975 till:30/06/1975 color:tpt1 #start and end guess from discography bar:Jeff Evans from:01/07/1975 till:30/06/1976 color:tpt1 #start and end guess from discography bar:Clive Baker from:01/07/1976 till:31/12/1983 color:tpt1 #start and end guess from discography bar:Clive Baker from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1983 color:vt width:3 bar:Mike 'Magic' Henry from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1990 color:tpt1 #VERIFIED MH email (Dec 1990 is a guess) bar:Malcolm Baxter from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1995 color:tpt1 #DF suggests until 1995 bar:David Ford from:01/01/1995 till:end color:tpt1 #VERIFIED DF email # trumpet 2 bar:Jake Spalding from:start till:30/06/1972 color:tpt2 bar:Mike Durston from:01/07/1972 till:30/06/1973 color:tpt2 #approximate dates from Derek Jones email bar:David Manning from:01/07/1973 till:31/12/1974 color:tpt2 #start and end guess from discography bar:George Burt from:01/01/1975 till:30/04/1976 color:tpt2 #start and end guess from discography bar:John Malam from:01/05/1976 till:30/09/1978 color:tpt2 #start guess from discography bar:Mike 'Magic' Henry from:01/10/1978 till:01/01/1984 color:tpt2 #VERIFIED MH email note 1984 same date as Rico joined bar:Enrico Tomasso from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1994 color:tpt2 #end guess from discography bar:Danny Hammerton from:01/01/1995 till:01/03/2003 color:tpt2 #DF suggests from 1995 DG suggests until 03/2003 bar:Ben Cummings from:05/04/2005 till:15/03/2009 color:tpt2 #VERIFIED BC email (dates from diary) bar:Malcolm Baxter from:16/03/2009 till:end color:tpt2 #VERIFIED # trombone bar:Bob Renvoize from:start till:31/12/1987 color:tbn #end guess from discography bar:Steve Shaw from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/2010 color:tbn #start guess from discography bar:Steve Shaw from:01/07/1996 till:01/01/2010 color:vt width:3 bar:Andy Hillier from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2010 color:tbn bar:Andy Hillier from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2010 color:vt width:3 bar:Adrian Fry from:01/03/2011 till:04/04/2021 color:tbn #VERIFIED DG band email bar:Adrian Fry from:01/03/2011 till:04/04/2021 color:vt width:3 #VERIFIED AF verbal bar:Rory Ingham from:01/01/2022 till:end color:tbn #VERIFIED DG email # piano bar:Mike Baskerville from:start till:30/06/1971 color:pno #end guess from discography bar:Tom Colbert from:01/07/1971 till:30/06/1972 color:pno #start and end guess from discography bar:John Harrop from:01/07/1972 till:30/06/1973 color:pno #approximate dates from Derek Jones email bar:Stan Ivison from:01/07/1973 till:30/09/1975 color:pno #start and end guess from discography bar:Hugh Ledigo from:01/10/1975 till:30/06/1976 color:pno #start and end guess from discography bar:Peter Durrent from:01/07/1976 till:31/12/1979 color:pno #start and end guess from discography bar:Mike Holmes from:01/01/1980 till:12/03/1992 color:pno #start guess from discography bar:Mike Holmes from:01/01/1981 till:12/03/1992 color:vt width:3 bar:Simon Townley from:13/03/1992 till:end color:pno #VERIFIED ST verbal bar:Simon Townley from:13/03/1992 till:end color:vt width:3 # guitar / banjo bar:Bill Triggs from:start till:30/06/1971 color:gtr #end guess from discography bar:John Bright from:01/07/1971 till:30/09/1975 color:gtr #start and end guess from discography bar:Albert Sadler from:01/07/1971 till:31/12/1976 color:gtr #start and end guess from discography bar:John Barron from:01/01/1977 till:30/06/1987 color:gtr #start and end guess from discography bar:Peter Warren from:01/07/1987 till:30/09/1990 color:gtr #start guess from discography bar:Graham Roberts from:01/10/1990 till:01/08/1999 color:gtr #VERIFIED GR email bar:Andrew Kuc from:01/08/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:gtr bar:Tom 'Spats' Langham from:01/01/2002 till:01/09/2007 color:gtr bar:Graham Roberts from:01/09/2007 till:01/10/2013 color:gtr #VERIFIED GR email bar:Tom 'Spats' Langham from:01/01/2014 till:end color:gtr # bass / sousa bar:John Arthy from:start till:30/06/1997 color:bs #VERIFIED bar:David Berry from:01/07/1997 till:end color:bs #VERIFIED DB verbal # drums bar:Barry Tyler from:start till:31/12/1971 color:dr #end guess from discography bar:Derek Jones from:01/01/1972 till:31/12/1977 color:dr #start and end guess from discography bar:Stephen Foster from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1978 color:dr #start and end guess from discography bar:Peter Coulcher from:01/01/1979 till:31/12/1979 color:dr #verbal from Robert Fowler and Tom Langham bar:John Sutton from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2006 color:dr #start guess from discography bar:John Watson from:19/01/2006 till:16/12/2012 color:dr #VERIFIED JW email bar:John Sutton from:01/01/2013 till:28/01/2015 color:dr bar:Dominic Sales from:28/01/2015 till:end color:dr #VERIFIED DG band email # violin bar:Peter Beresford from:start till:31/12/1974 color:vln #end guess from discography bar:Barrie Williams from:01/01/1975 till:01/04/1977 color:vln #start and end guess from discography # sound bar:Simon Wingfield from:01/01/1986 till:31/12/1995 color:eng #dates suggested by Derek Jones bar:Thorsten Merriott from:01/12/1996 till:end color:eng #VERIFIED conversation with TM

Discography

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra

Vinyl

*''The Pasadena Roof Orchestra'' (

Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

, 1974) *''Good News'' (Transatlantic, 1975) *''On Tour'' (Transatlantic 1976; live album recorded in Germany) *''Isn't It Romantic'' (Transatlantic, 1976) *''The Show Must Go On'' (Transatlantic, 1977) *''A Talking Picture'' (Transatlantic, 1978) *''Anthology'' (Transatlantic, 1978) *''Night Out'' (CBS, 1979) *''Crazy Words, Crazy Tunes'' (Aves Records & Tapes, 1982) *''Fifteen Years On'' (Metronome, 1984)

CDs

*''Happy Feet'' (Pasadena Records, 1987; CD PRO 1) *''...Steppin' Out'' (Pasadena Records, 1989; CD PRO 2; live album recorded in England) *''42nd Street'' (Ditto, 1990; twin cassettes) *''Breakaway'' (Pasadena Records, 1991; CD PRO 3) *''The Collection'' (Castle Music UK; 1992) *''25th Anniversary Album'' (Pasadena Records, 1993; CD PRO 4) *''Rhythm is our Business'' (Pasadena Records, 1996; CD PRO 5) *''The Best of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Lullaby of Broadway'' (Castle/Pulse, 1997) *''Home in Pasadena: Very Best of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra'' (Castle/Pulse, 1998) *''Swing That Music!'' (Pasadena Records, 1998; CD PRO 6) *''30th Anniversary'' (Pasadena Records, 2001) *''Here & Now'' (Pasadena Records, 2002; CD PRO 7) *''Roots of Swing'' (Pasadena Records, 2008; CD PRO 8) *''Licensed To Swing'' (2011; CD PRO 9) *''The Christmas Album'' (2011; CD PRO 10) *''Ladies and Gentlemen'' (2013; Herzog Records) - features

Laura Fygi Laura Fygi (born 27 August 1955) is a Dutch jazz singer. Fygi's father was a Dutch businessman, a director of Philips, and her mother an Egyptian belly dancer. She was raised in Uruguay, until her father's death in the late 1960s, when she mo ...

on two tracks and Les Brünettes on two tracks *''Live from London'' (2016; Herzog Records) *''The Jubilee Collection'' (2018; Herzog Records) - 3 CD set - re-releases of ''The Show Must Go On'' (1977), ''On Tour'' (1976) and ''Ladies and Gentlemen'' (2013) *''Back on the Road'' (2021; Herzog Records)

Singles

*'' Pennies from Heaven/

Back in Your Own Backyard "Back in Your Own Backyard" is a popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer; in fact, Billy Rose was exclusively a lyricist, Dreyer a composer, and Al Jolson a performer who was often given cre ...

'' (1978; 7" single) *''Paddlin' Madelin' Home/

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

'' (Island; 7" single) *''Me and Jane in a Plane/Pasadena'' (Transatlantic; 7" single) *''Looney Tunes/ Nobody's Sweetheart'' (Reward Records; 7" single)

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra and The Swing Sisters

*''Take Me Back'' (Emporio 627, 1993) *'' Sentimental Journey'' (MCI, 1993)

DVD releases

In 2003 the Pasadena Roof Orchestra released a DVD of the 30th Anniversary live concert at

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

, London, with guests. This DVD is only available in Region 2 format. This DVD is the first release to feature a double sided DVD which plays in colour and digital stereo on one side and in sepia-toned monochrome, with Phonograph style mono audio, on the other. In August 2005 another DVD, ''Dance the Night Away'' appeared, but only in Region 1 format. This DVD was not sanctioned by the orchestra and was recorded from a 1979 German TV show.

Appearances

*The PRO has worked on the soundtracks of several films, including '' Just a Gigolo'' (1979) and ''

Comedian Harmonists The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Fromm ...

'' (1997). *On 1 October 1975, the PRO appeared on the first episode of the second season of ''

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...

'', a

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

variety show hosted by the model

, with whom they performed ''

Everything Stops for Tea ''Everything Stops for Tea'' is an album by John Baldry released in May 1972. It was produced by Elton John and Rod Stewart. Elton provides vocal accompaniment on tracks 1, 3-5. Stewart provides vocal accompaniment and plays banjo on track 8. ...

''. *In 1992, the orchestra appeared in two six-part

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. ...

half-hour comedy series entitled ''The Pasadena's Almanac''. The premise was that the orchestra played themselves, despite the series being set in the 1930s. Each series would feature the band travelling the world and foiling the plans of villains and evil masterminds, always finding the time to play some music too. Duncan Galloway took the fore, supported by traditional British radio actors and comedians such as

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television, and film actress. Her big break was a lead in the radio comedy '' Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1953. ...

and

Roy Hudd Roy Hudd, OBE (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née ...

References

External links

Pasadena Roof Orchestra official websiteJames Langton interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' July 2010All releases of Pasadena Roof Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasadena Roof Musical groups established in 1969 English jazz ensembles Swing ensembles Musical groups from Manchester 1969 establishments in England