Chester Gill

Chesterfield Gill (born September 18, 1928 in Bridgetown , † January 14, 2003 in Basel ) was a Swiss jazz musician , composer and choir director of Barbadian origin.

Life

Grave in the Hörnli cemetery .

Gill began playing the trumpet at the age of seven and followed his brother into the Salvation Army , which enabled him to receive musical training. In 1946 he was already the band leader in various local formations. In 1957 Gill emigrated to London to work as a bus driver for London Bus (now part of Transport for London ); in the evening he appeared as a musician.

As a result of a lengthy strike, Gill followed the call of earlier bandmates from Trinidad after about a year to take part in a tour in Switzerland. After two years of touring, he settled in Basel in 1960 and studied singing at the Basel Conservatory . After that, Gill initially worked as a private music teacher, later for decades as an instrument teacher at the humanistic grammar school . In 1973 he received Swiss citizenship and founded his own choir, the Chester Gill Singers . In addition, he took over the direction of a gospel choir in Rheinfelden as well as two guild choirs , a. a. those of the guild as housemates , where he became guild in 1983.

Gill released two LPs with his own calypso pieces in 1975 and 1981 . As a composer, he wrote the oratorio In the Beginning Was the Word in 1989 and the Musical The Picture in 2000 , each to texts by Rudolf Suter, as well as classical choral pieces, folk songs and arrangements. He was married to Rosmarie Stauffer and had an adopted son, Peter Gill, an amateur jazz pianist and media spokesman for the Basel-Stadt public prosecutor. His students include a. the jazz musicians Sam Burckhardt , Martin Kunzler and Nubya .

The saxophone was Gill's main instrument, in addition to which he played and taught five other instruments since his youth (vocals and genre variants not included): trumpet, guitar, clarinet, double bass and - since studying in Basel - piano.

Gill found his final resting place in the Hörnli cemetery .

Works

For choir and instruments

• In the beginning was the word (oratorio in 3 parts for speaker, choir, solos and orchestra (1st version 1989 with big band, 2nd version 1992 with saxophone ensemble) - text: Rudolf Suter )
• The Picture (Musical, 2000 - Libretto: Rudolf Suter )
• I'm Happy (Samba for male choir and piper, no year)
• The British Grenadiers (arrangement for male choir, brass quintet, pipers and drummers, undated)

For a cappella choir

• Spirituals and Gospels (first volume with 19 traditional songs arranged for four-part mixed choir, published 1985 - illustrated by Hans Weidmann )
  • Aint That Good News
  • All I want
  • Baby bethlehem
  • Burden Down, Lord (for three-part choir)
  • City Called Heaven
  • Down in my heart
  • Everywhere I Go
  • Hold on
  • I belong to the band
  • I know the lord
  • I'll fly away
  • Just a Closer Walk
  • Michael (for three-part choir)
  • Oh, freedom
  • Oh, the Blood of Jesus
  • Over my head
  • The Gospel Train
  • Wasn't That a Mighty Day (for three-part choir)
  • When I Lay My Burden Down

• Spirituals and Gospels (second volume with 20 songs and arrangements for four-part mixed choir, published 1993 - illustrated by Hans Weidmann )
  • Be It Morning, Noon or Night (original composition)
  • Can't You Live Humble
  • Don't You Hear Me (original composition)
  • I See Hope (original composition)
  • Laugh (original composition)
  • Love (original composition)
  • Love King Jesus
  • Mary had a baby
  • Move Along
  • My ship is on the ocean
  • New Born
  • Oh, I'm a going to sing
  • Peace Must Come (original composition, for five-part choir)
  • Praise Him
  • Rise Up Shepherds
  • Thanks / Be with Me Day and Night (specially composed canon)
  • Were you there
  • We Shall Overcome (for five-part choir)
  • You got a right

• Amen (for mixed choir, 1975)
• Down by the Riverside (for mixed choir, 1975)
• Gimme dat ol 'time religion (for baritone and mixed choir, 1975)
• Give Me Oil (for baritone and mixed choir, 1977)
• Sit Down (for mixed choir, 1979)
• Soon in the Morning (for mixed choir, 1979)
• Go Back Home to Your Ma, Boy (for baritone and mixed choir, 1980)
• Jesus Met the Woman (for mixed choir, 1981)
• Tim (for baritone and mixed choir, 1983)
• Zunftspruch I (for male choir, 1984)
• The Baby Boy (for mixed choir, 1985)
• The Wayfaring Strangers (for mixed choir, 1985)
• The Drunken Sailor (for male or mixed choir, 1985)
• Sing praises / Lobpreiset (for male or mixed choir, 1986)
• Basel (for male or mixed choir, 1987 - text: Felix Burckhardt)
• Basel Stadt (for male or mixed choir, 1988 - text: Rudolf Suter)
• Potpourri (for male choir, 1991 - text: various folk songs)
• Gässle (1st version for mixed choir, 1988 / 2nd version for male choir, 1995)
• A Little Talk with Jesus (for baritone and mixed choir, 1993)
• Everybody Needs a Friend (for baritone and mixed choir, 1995)
• Zunftspruch II (for male choir, 1996)
• Vive l'amour (for mixed choir, undated)
• Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (for male choir, no year)
• Oh Happy Day (for male choir, no year)

For instruments

• Dr Gleezi (Pfeifermarsch for Vereinigte Kleinbasler , published 1975 - composed in September 1974 under the title Swiss Ches (ter) )
• Gässle (Piper march arrangement for household members' guild, 1995)
• Dr Huusgnoss ( Piper march for household members' guild, undated - original title Dr Zunftbrueder )

Discography (selection)

• Leavin 'Blues , self-published, EP 17073, ca.1970.
• Calypsos , Duraphon Records, LP HD 221, Therwil 1975.
• In the Field of Spirituals and Gospels , Turicaphon, LP ML 529, Riedikon 1981.
• City called Heaven , Chester Gill Singers, Chester Gill (lead), ML 582, 1987.
• In the beginning was the word , Chester Gill Singers, Saxophone Ensemble of the Basel Conservatory, Chester Gill (conductor), Inter-Music Studio, Bottmingen 1992.

literature

• Thomas Waldmann: The Chester Gill Singers. 30 years of spirituals, gospels, calypsos and blues. In: Basler Zeitung , 7, No. 23 (June 6, 1997), p. 15.
• Judith Fischer: Rendez-vous with Chester Gill. In: Riehener Zeitung , 79, No. 48 (December 1, 2000), p. 3.
• Johnny Engeler: Music is his whole life. In: Basellandschaftliche Zeitung , No. 275 (November 24, 2001).
• Rudolf Suter: Obituary for the death of Chester Gill. A life for music. In: Riehener Zeitung , 82, No. 4 (January 24, 2003), p. 2.

Web links

• Entry on JazzIndex