Colin Purbrook

Colin Thomas Purbrook (born February 26, 1936 in Seaford , East Sussex , † February 5, 1999 in London ) was a British jazz musician (piano, double bass, arrangement, composition).

Live and act

Purbrook, whose father worked as a pianist, took piano lessons from the age of 6. At the age of eleven he won three prizes at the Brighton Music Festival and received a scholarship to attend Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge , where he also trained as a bassist and trombonist. In 1958 he was seen as a trombonist with the Cambridge University Jazz Band in the film Bachelor of Hearts . In the same year he joined Sandy Brown's band as a bassist , and then worked for three years as a pianist with the All Stars , which he formed with Al Fairweather . He also performed with Kenny Ball and then worked with the Jazzmakers of Ronnie Ross and Allan Ganley . Then he was a ship musician on the RMS Queen Mary to work with Ronnie Scott and Jimmy Deuchar . In 1961 he worked with Bert Courtley in Germany, then worked again with the Jazzmakers and appeared in the film All Night Long . In 1962 he toured with Kenny Baker and worked with Tubby Hayes . He also led his own quintet together with Tony Coe to accompany American musicians such as Benny Goodman traveling through 1964 . He also worked for Don Rendell and in his quintet with Ian Carr ( Shades of Blue 1964), before appearing in the quintet of Coe and John Picard . In 1967 and 1968 he led his own groups, but was also active in the trios of Phil Seamen and Brian Lemon .

Since the mid-1960s, he has mainly worked as the musical director and arranger of shows. He also worked with Annie Ross (until the 1990s) and in 1972 with Humphrey Lyttelton . Occasionally he accompanied Benny Carter , Chet Baker , Buddy Tate , Kenny Davern , Al Cohn and other Americans traveling through (also on recordings on the BBC).

Discographic notes

Blues for Buddy (Spotlite 1988, with Peter King , Dave Green , Allan Ganley).
My Ideal (Trio 1997, with Andy Cleyndert and Colin Oxley )

Lexigraphic entry

John Chilton, Who's Who in British Jazz Continuum: London 2004 ISBN 978-0826472342

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Purbrook, Colin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Purbrook, Colin Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British jazz musician (piano, double bass, arrangement, composition)
DATE OF BIRTH	February 26, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH	Seaford (Sussex)
DATE OF DEATH	February 5, 1999
Place of death	London