Rod Mason (28 September 1940 – 8 January 2017) was an English musician (trumpet,

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, vocals) who played

trad jazz Trad jazz, short for "traditional jazz", is a form of jazz in the United States and Britain in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, played by musicians such as Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer and Monty Sunshine, based on a revival ...

Biography

Mason was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England. As a young man he played with the local Tamar Valley Jazz Band, in which his father, Frank "Pop" Mason, had played drums. His father and mother Gwen, ran the family soft drinks company Mason's Minerals. At

Kelly College Kelly College was a coeducational independent school in the English public school tradition situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon, with around 350 students ranging from ages 3 to 18. There was an associated preparatory school for pri ...

, in

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

, Mason played the bugle with the cadet corps, after which he developed a keen interest in a spare valve trombone. He played this in his father's band until the trumpet player left; Mason replaced him using a brass-band style cornet. From 1959 to 1960, Mason played briefly with the

Cy Laurie Cyril Laurie (20 April 1926 – 18 April 2002) was an English jazz clarinettist and bandleader. Biography Born in London, England, of Latvian/Jewish immigrant stock, Laurie was a bandleader and self-taught clarinet player. He put together his ow ...

band. In 1962, when

Monty Sunshine Monty Sunshine (9 April 1928 – 30 November 2010) was an English jazz clarinettist, who is known for his clarinet solo on the track "Petite Fleur", a million seller for the Chris Barber Jazz Band in 1959. During his career, Sunshine worked wit ...

left the

Chris Barber Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with " Petite Fl ...

band to form his own group, Sunshine hired Mason on the recommendation of

Kenny Ball Kenneth Daniel Ball (22 May 1930Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music''. (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 29; ) – 7 March 2013) was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and ...

. In the mid-1960s after leaving Sunshine, he worked in the family business and played occasionally, until a winning appearance on

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

's '' Opportunity Knocks'' TV talent show which led to a flood of offers. A

facial paralysis Facial nerve paralysis is a common problem that involves the paralysis of any structures innervated by the facial nerve. The pathway of the facial nerve is long and relatively convoluted, so there are a number of causes that may result in facial ...

forced him to use other mouthpieces, which allowed him to extend the range of his instrument. In 1965, he founded his own band, and from 1970 he played in the

Acker Bilk Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was a British clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistc ...

's Paramount Jazz Band, before he founded a band together with Ian Wheeler in 1973. This was a band with musicians such as

Brian Lemon Brian Lemon (11 February 1937 – 11 October 2014) was a British jazz pianist and arranger. Biography Lemon was born in Nottingham, England. After leaving school in the 1950s, he began playing professionally at Nottingham's Palais de Danse and ...

Dick Wellstood Richard MacQueen Wellstood (November 25, 1927 – July 24, 1987) was an American jazz pianist. Career He was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. Wellstood's mother was a graduate of the Juilliard School who played church organ. Wellst ...

Bob Wilber Robert Sage Wilber (March 15, 1928 – August 4, 2019) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and band leader. Although his scope covers a wide range of jazz, Wilber was a dedicated advocate of classic styles, working throughout his caree ...

. He recorded numerous recordings for the Reef label. From 1980, Mason played in the

Dutch Swing College Band The Dutch Swing College Band "DSCB" is a traditional dixieland band founded on 5 May 1945 by bandleader and clarinettist/saxophonist Peter Schilperoort. Highly successful in their native home of The Netherlands, the band quickly found an interna ...

. In 1985, he founded Hot Five band, with which he released a number of albums for

Timeless Records Timeless Records is a jazz record label based in the Netherlands. Timeless was founded in Wageningen in 1975 by Wim Wigt. It has specialized in bebop, though it also did a sub-series of releases of Dixieland and swing recordings. As of 2000, th ...

and regularly toured Europe. Mason is according to

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 ...

"a world-class trumpeter ..with a phenomenal versatility, unlimited endurance and the frightening ability to sound like

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

." In later life he lived with his wife Ingrid in

Kaarst Kaarst (; li, Kaasj) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is 5 km west of Neuss and 12 km east of Mönchengladbach. Division of the town Kaarst consists of 5 subdivisions * ...

, Germany.Rod Mason Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' Retrieved 5 June 2020.

Personal life and death

Mason had a keen interest in both motorcars and motorcycles which led to a separate career as a speedway rider. He represented Plymouth on cinder tracks all over the UK although, as a result, suffered many minor injuries which made him decide to remain with music. He played his last gig in

, Germany in December 2016 and died three weeks later, after developing

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. His son, Timmy, predeceased him. He is survived by Ingrid and his other son, Simon.

Discography

* ''By The Beautiful Sea'' 1970 * ''Golden Hour Of Mr. Acker Bilk'' * ''Rod Mason – Ian Wheeler'' 1974 * ''Rod Mason Featuring BAD JOKE'' 1975 * ''Giants Of Jazz'' 1976 * ''Salute To Satchmo'' 1976 * ''Dogging’ Around in Dixie" 1976 * ''Dr. Jazz'' 1976 * ''Good Companions'' 1977 * ''Meet Me Where They Play The Blues'' 1977 * ''Jazz at the Strathallan'' 1977 * ''Carry me back'' 1978 * ''Great having you around'' 1978 * ''Stars Fell On Alabama'' 1979 * ''After Hours at the North Sea Jazz Festival'' 1979 * ''Six For Two'' 1979 * ''The Last Concert'' 1979 * ''Digital Dixie'' 1981 * ''Digital Dutch'' 1982 * ''Come Back, Sweet Papa'' 1984 * ''Jazz Holiday'' 1985 * ''The Pearls'' 1986 * ''Rod Mason Hot Five'' 1986 * ''Rod Mason's Hot Music'' 1988 * ''Rod Mason And his Hot Five featuring Angela Brown'' 1990 * ''Top 8 – Jazz Gala'' 1990 * ''I love Jazz'' 1992 * ''Ian Wheller at Farnham Meltings'' 1993 * ''10 Years Rod Mason's Hot Five – Things We Have Done For Jazz'' 1994 * ''Merry Christmas'' 1994 * ''Red sails in the sunset'' 1999 * ''100 Years Louis Armstrong'' 2000

References

Bibliography

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall ...

, Digby Fairweather,

Brian Priestley Brian Priestley (born 10 July 1940)Many sources list Priestley's year of birth as 1946, but this is inaccurate. See Priestley's entry in ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'' anon his revised Charlie Parker study. is an English jazz writer, pianist and a ...

: ''Jazz Rough Guide.'' Stuttgart 1999,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Rod 1940 births 2017 deaths English jazz singers English jazz trumpeters English jazz horn players Musicians from Plymouth, Devon Dutch Swing College Band members Black Lion Records artists