George Edward Heath (30 March 1902 – 18 November 1969) was a British musician and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

leader. Heath led what is widely considered Britain's greatest post-war big band, recording more than 100 albums, which sold over 20 million copies. The most successful band in Britain during the 1950s, it remained in existence as a

ghost band A ghost band is a legacy band that performs under the name of a deceased leader. In rock and roll, it is a band that performs under the name of the band whose founders are either deceased or have left the band. Use of the phrase may refer to a re ...

long after Heath died, surviving in such a form until 2000."Ted Heath"
Jazz Professional, from the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine

Musical beginnings

After playing tenor horn at the age of six, encouraged by his father Bert, a trumpeter and the leader of the Wandsworth Town Brass Band, Heath later switched to trombone.Moira Heath, ''I Haven't Said Thanks: The Story of Ted and Moira Heath'' Ted Heath "Listen to my Music: An Autobiography" London:Muller:1957 Both often played together on numerous dance band recording of the 1920s and 1930s. Earning a living for his family in the post-war years he, and his brother Harold with three other musicians, formed a band that played to commuters outside London Bridge Station before winding their way along the streets in London to a location outside the Queen's Hall Gardens venue. It was here that Heath's professional career began as he was spotted on the street and asked to play with the

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz" a ...

Band who had a residence there. He did not last long, not having the experience required, but it gave him the ambition to pursue a career as a professional musician.Alan Dell Interviews on Ted Heath 21st Anniversary Album

1920s

His first real band gig was with an American band on tour in Europe – the

Southern Syncopated Orchestra Southern Syncopated Orchestra (SSO), established first in the U.S. as the New York Syncopated Orchestra, was an early jazz group known for bringing Black musicians to the UK. The group was founded by Will Marion Cook. Members of the group include ...

– which had an engagement in Vienna, Austria and needed a trombone player. The drummer for this band, Benny Payton, taught Heath all about jazz and swing. Heath had to pay his own way back from Austria when the band ran out of money. Heath heard

Bunny Berigan Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People ...

and

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, ...

when they toured Europe. He next played with the Metro-Gnomes, a small band fronted by Hylton's then-wife Ennis Parkes. In the late 1920s, Heath again joined Hylton's larger stage band (also being present on a number of 12-inch "concert" recordings), staying until 1930. Around this time, he also began to play for a number of other dance orchestras.

1930s

In 1928, he joined

Bert Ambrose Benjamin Baruch Ambrose (11 September 1896 – 11 June 1971), known professionally as Ambrose or Bert Ambrose, was an English bandleader and violinist. Ambrose became the leader of a highly acclaimed British dance band, ''Bert Ambrose & His Or ...

's orchestra at The May Fair Hotel in London and played there until 1935, when he moved on to

Sydney Lipton Sydney John Lipton (14 December 1905 – 19 July 1995) was a British dance band leader, popular from the 1930s to the 1960s when he led "one of the most polished of the British Dance Bands". Life and career Born in London, he learned the vio ...

's orchestra at the

Grosvenor House Hotel ] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, originally named the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. The hotel is managed by JW Marriott Hotels, which is a brand of Marriott Internationa ...

. Ambrose, a strict disciplinarian, taught Heath how to be a bandleader. It was during this time that Heath became the most prominent trombone player in UK, Britain, renowned for his perfect tone. He kept playing on numerous recordings as a studio musician, although he concentrated his efforts on the Ambrose band after 1932. In September 1939 the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

caused the immediate disbandment of the Sydney Lipton Band, which was on tour in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at the time. Heath, his wife Moira and children went back to London. In late 1939, Heath joined

Maurice Winnick Maurice Winnick (28 March 1902 – 26 May 1962) was an English musician and dance band leader of the British dance band era. Born in Manchester, Winnick studied violin at the Manchester College of Music, where he proved to be a "child prodigy". ...

The Dorchester The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...

hotel band. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Heath also played as a sideman on several

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

sessions.

1940s

In 1940, Heath joined Geraldo's orchestra, and played numerous concerts and broadcasts during the war travelling to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

to play to the Allied Forces-based there. He often became one of the "boys" in Geraldo's vocal group, 'Three Boys and a Girl'. In 1941, Geraldo asked his band members to submit a favourite tune to include in their broadcasts. Heath had composed a song "That Lovely Weekend", after his wife had written him a poem on a rare weekend together amongst his war travels, and he set this to music. Heath suggested "That Lovely Weekend" to Geraldo and it was orchestrated, with Dorothy Carless on vocal, and was an immediate wartime hit. The royalties from this song and another composition "Gonna Love That Guy" allowed Heath to form his own band.

Ted Heath & His Music

Heath was inspired by

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

and his Army Air Force Band, and spoke with Miller at length about forming his own band when Miller toured Britain with the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Orchestra. Heath admired the immaculate precision of the Miller ensemble, and felt confident that he could emulate Miller's great success with his own orchestra. In 1944, Heath talked Douglas Lawrence, the Dance Music Organiser for the BBC's Variety Department, into supporting a new band with a broadcasting contract. Lawrence was sceptical as Heath wanted a much larger and more jazz orientated band than anyone had seen in Britain before. This band followed the American model, and featured five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets, piano, guitar, double bass and drums. The new Ted Heath Band, originally organised as a British "All Star Band" playing only radio dates, was first heard on a BBC broadcast in 1944. In 1945, the BBC decreed that only permanent, touring bands could appear on radio. So Ted Heath and his Music was officially formed on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, 1944. In late 1945, American bandleader Toots (Tutti) Camarata came to UK as musical director for the film '' London Town'' (1946) starring comedian

Sid Field Sidney Arthur Field (1 April 1904 – 3 February 1950) was an English comedy entertainer who was popular in the 1940s. Early years Field was born in Ladywood, Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Albert (a candlemaker) and Bertha (a dressmak ...

. This film was intended to be Britain's first attempt to emulate the American film musicals of studios such as

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and Camarata commissioned Heath to provide his band as the nucleus for the film's orchestra. The film was not a success. Heath arranged a stint at the Winter Gardens at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in 1946, a

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n tour, a fortnight at the London Casino with

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

, and backed

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

. Huge popularity quickly followed and Heath's Band and his musicians were regular Poll Winners in 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 ...

'' and the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' (''New Musical Express'') – Britain's leading music newspapers. Subsequently, Heath was asked to perform at two Royal Command Performances in front of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

in 1948 and 1949. In 1947, Heath persuaded impresario

Val Parnell Valentine Charles Parnell (14 February 1892 – 22 September 1972) was a British television managing director and presenter, actor and theatrical impresario. A former staple of stage production, his career in television started with the launc ...

, uncle of the band's star drummer

Jack Parnell John Russell Parnell (6 August 1923 – 8 August 2010) was an English musician and musical director. Biography Parnell was born into a theatrical family in London, England. His uncle was the theatrical impresario Val Parnell. During hi ...

, to allow him to hire the

for alternating Sundays for his Sunday Night Swing Sessions. The band caused a sensation and eventually played 110 Sunday concerts, ending in August 1955, consolidating the band's popular appeal from the late 1940s. These concerts allowed the band to play much more in a jazz idiom than it could in ballrooms. In addition to the Palladium Sunday night concerts the band appeared regularly at the

Hammersmith Palais The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to b ...

and toured the UK on a weekly basis.

1950s and US tour

In April 1956, Heath arranged his first American tour. This was a reciprocal agreement between Heath and

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

, who would tour Britain at the same time as Heath toured the United States. The tour was a major negotiated agreement with the British Musicians' Union and the

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...

, which broke a 20-year union deadlock. Heath contracted to play a tour that included

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a sol ...

and

the Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers accom ...

that consisted of 43 concerts in 30 cities (primarily the southern states) in 31 days (7,000 miles) climaxing in a

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

concert on 1 May 1956. At this performance, the band's instrument truck was delayed by bad weather. The instruments finally arrived just minutes before the curtain rose. The band had no time to warm up or rehearse. There were so many encore calls at the Carnegie Hall performance that Nat King Cole (who was backstage, but not on the bill) had to come out on stage and ask people to leave. During the tour,

was attacked on stage in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

by a group of white segregationists. Heath was so appalled he nearly cancelled the remainder of the tour but was persuaded by Cole to continue. They remained firm friends until Cole died in 1965 and collaborated musically on many occasions. Heath later successfully toured the US again and also toured

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The 1950s was the most popular period for Ted Heath and His Music during which a substantial repertoire of recordings were made. In 1958 nine albums were recorded. He became a household name throughout the UK, Europe,

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and the US. He won the ''New Musical Express'' Poll for Best Band/Orchestra each year from 1952 to 1961. Heath was asked to perform at a third Royal Command Performance for King George VI in 1951, and for

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in 1954. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1959 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

at the

BBC Television Theatre Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

. During this period, Heath and his band appeared in several more films (following ''London Town'') including ''

Dance Hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...

'' (1950); '' It’s a Wonderful World'' (1956) and ''

Jazz Boat ''Jazz Boat'' is a 1960 British musical comedy film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries and big band leader Ted Heath and his orchestra. Many of the cast and the same director then made ''In the Nick ...

'' (1960).

1960s

Heath used Decca's

Phase 4 Stereo Phase 4 Stereo was a recording process created by the U.K. Decca Records label in 1961. The process was used on U.K. Decca recordings and also those of its American subsidiary London Records during the 1960s. Phase 4 Stereo recordings were cre ...

recording methods in the early 1960s. He continued to commission a huge number of original scores and arrangements and some of his biggest US chart successes came during this time. He performed continuously and successfully until his health faltered in 1964, suffering a cerebral thrombosis on his 62nd birthday, and collapsing on stage in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Thereafter the band toured less, but continued to record several albums.

Professional relationships

In addition to Cole, Heath established close personal and professional relationships with

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

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 ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

. He worked with

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

;

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

;

The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers accom ...

;

Donna Hightower Donna Lubertha Hightower (December 28, 1926 – August 19, 2013) was an American R&B, soul and jazz singer and songwriter, who recorded and released albums for the Decca and Capitol labels. Later in her career she was based in Europe, where s ...

and others. His band members included

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

, an early member of the band, the pianist

Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album ''Jazz Suite Inspir ...

, trumpeters Kenny Baker, Eddie Blair, Duncan Campbell, sax players

Don Rendell Donald Percy Rendell (4 March 1926 – 20 October 2015) was an English jazz musician and arranger. Mainly active as a tenor saxophonist, he also played soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Career Rendell was born in Plymouth, England, an ...

and

Tommy Whittle Tommy Whittle (13 October 1926 – 13 October 2013) was a British jazz saxophonist. Biography Tommy Whittle was born in Grangemouth, Scotland. He started playing clarinet at the age of 12 before taking up tenor saxophone at 13, guided by A ...

, trombonists

Don Lusher Don Lusher OBE (6 November 1923 – 5 July 2006) was an English jazz and big band trombonist best known for his association with the Ted Heath Big Band. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he played trombone with a number of jazz orchestras ...

and Wally Smith, drummers

and Ronnie Verrell and double bass

Johnny Hawksworth Johnny Hawksworth (2 February 1924 – 13 February 2009) was a British bass player and composer who lived and worked in Australia beginning in 1984. Biography Born in London in 1924, Hawksworth initially trained as a pianist, but also pla ...

. The addition of singers

Dickie Valentine Richard Bryce ( Maxwell; 4 November 1929 – 6 May 1971), known professionally as Dickie Valentine, was a British pop singer who enjoyed great popularity in Britain during the 1950s. In addition to several other Top Ten hit singles, Valentine ha ...

Lita Roza Lilian Patricia Lita Roza (14 March 1926 – 14 August 2008) was an English singer best known for her 1953 recording " (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. She was the first British woman to hav ...

and

Dennis Lotis Dennis Lotis (born 8 March 1925) is a South African-born British singer, actor, and entertainer, whose popularity was greatest in the 1950s. He was described as having "a sophisticated style that was particularly attractive to the young female po ...

in the '50s gave the band more teenage appeal. He commissioned scores from all the top arrangers of the era with more than 800 original arrangements as part of the band's library. Arrangers included

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 t ...

, Reg Owen, John Keating; Kenny Graham; Ken Moule;

Bob Farnon Robert Joseph Farnon CM (24 July 191723 April 2005) was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a composer of original works (often in the light music genre), he was commissioned by film and ...

; Woolf Phillips; Ron Roullier;

Bill Russo William Joseph Russo (June 25, 1928 – January 11, 2003) was an American composer, arranger, and musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States. History A student of jazz pianist Lennie Tristano, Russo wrote orchestral scores for the Stan Ken ...

;

Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...

;

Ron Goodwin Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...

; and Ralph Dollimore.

Personal life

Heath was married twice, firstly in 1924 to Audrey Keymer who died in 1932. There were two sons from the marriage, Raymond and Robert. His second marriage was to Moira Tracey—a ballet dancer who appeared in one of the first television transmissions by

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demo ...

on the BBC, and became a prolific lyricist and songwriter. She received a special award for services to television, the 'Freedom of the City of London' in recognition of her services to songwriting and a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors 'Gold Badge Award'. She died on 24 January 2000 in Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK. There were four children from this marriage, Martin, Valerie, Nicholas and Timothy. Two of Heath's sons, Nick Heath and Tim Heath, continued the musical and entertainment tradition in the family by becoming successful artiste managers, record company and music publishing company owners, and Nick Heath continues his entertainment business career as a music producer and owner of Birdland Records. James Heath (Heath's grandson—Nick Heath's son) is a film and music video director.

Death, and continuation of band through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

He died in 1969 at the age of 67, but the band re-formed after a

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

tribute broadcast in 1976 with the approval of the Heath family, and went on performing concerts. Initially some early 1970s recordings were recorded under the musical direction of

Roland Shaw Roland Shaw (born Roland Edgar Shaw-Tomkins; 26 May 1920 – 11 May 2012) was an English composer, musical arranger, and orchestra leader. Shaw was born in Leicester and attended the Trinity College of Music. He served in the Royal Air Force in ...

, Ralph Dollimore and Stan Reynolds, but thereafter all recordings were supervised by trombonist

, who led the band for 25 years until 2000, with mostly original Heath alumni. The final concert in December 2000, was a sell out at London's

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, attended by most Heath personnel past and present and the Heath family. The band at that performance was made up almost entirely of players who had played under Ted Heath's leadership. Numerous radio and television tributes have been broadcast over the years. The band compared favourably with the best of America's big bands in the opinion of

in his testimonial to Heath on Heath's 21st Anniversary album, and is generally accepted as the best swing band that Britain ever produced.Colin Larkin, "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music"

References

Sources

* John Robert Brown, ''A Concise History of Jazz'' p. 90 * Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley ''Jazz: The Rough Guide'' 2nd edition. * Roy Carr. ''A Century of Jazz''. p. 24 * Leonard Feather, "Heath, Edward 'Ted'", in the ''Encyclopedia of Jazz'' (New York City:Horizon Press, 1955), p. 157 * Ron Fritts, Ken Vail. ''Ella Fitzgerald: The Chuck Webb Years and Beyond'' p. 93 * Peter Gammond. ''The Oxford Companion to Popular Music – 1991'' * Lesley Gourse. ''Sassy: The Life of Sarah Vaughan'' * Max Harrison, Charles Fox, Eric Thacker. ''The Essential Jazz Records – Ragtime to Swing'' p. 215 * Moira Heath. ''I Haven't Said Thanks: The Story of Ted and Moira Heath'' * Ted Heath. ''Listen to My Music: An Autobiography''. London:Muller, 1957 * Paul Henry. ''Saxophone'' * J. Humphries. ''Music Master Albums Record Catalog 1991'' * Roger D. Kinkle, "Heath, Ted". ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950''. * Colin Larkin ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' * Colin Larkin, ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music'' * William F. Lee. ''American Big Bands''. p. 285 * Gene Lees, Nat Hentoff. ''You Can't Steal a Gift: Dizzy, Clark, Milt and Nat'' * Henry Martin, Keith Waters. ''Jazz: The First 100 Years'' (House Publishers, 1974), pp. 1077–1078. * Joseph Murrells. ''The Book of Golden Discs'' * Tony Parker. ''The Greatest Swing Band in the World – Ted Heath'' * Catherine Parsonage. ''The Evolution of Jazz in Britain 1880–1935''. p. 196 * George Shearing, Alyn Shipton. ''Lullaby of Birdland''. p. 87 * John Shepherd. ''Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World'' * William Emmett Stodwell, Mark Baldin. ''The Big Band Reader''. p. 135 * Leo Walker. ''The Big Band Almanac''. p. 174 * Chris Woodward. ''The London Palladium: The Story of the Theatre and its Stars''. p. 176 * Scott Yanow. ''Swing''. * ''Billboard'' magazine, 12 May 1956 – Ted Heath Carnegie Hall review * The Ted Heath Music Appreciation Society of Great Britain * "Big Band Profiles: Ted Heath", Jazz Professional, jazzprofessional.com. * "Ted Heath," The Space Age Pop Music Page, spaceagepop.com.
Big Band Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Ted 1902 births 1969 deaths Big band bandleaders British jazz trombonists Male trombonists British bandleaders British jazz musicians Decca Records artists London Records artists People from Wandsworth Ivor Novello Award winners 20th-century British musicians 20th-century trombonists British male jazz musicians 20th-century British male musicians