Jack Llewellyn
John "Jack" Llewellyn Jr. (born August 23, 1914 in Liverpool , † 1988 in Cullompton , Devon ) was a British jazz guitarist .
Live and act
Llewellyn was the son of the banjo player and teacher David John ("Jack") Llewellyn Sr., who also performed in Germany as a member of the London Sonora Band in the 1920s. At the age of 18, Jack Jr. had his first radio appearances - also with the banjo. He began his musician career in northern England when he was twenty, playing in holiday resorts in 1934, such as Blackpool Tower with the Blackpool Tower Dance Band . In 1935 he moved to London, where he switched to the guitar as the main instrument. In the following years he played with Sydney Lipton and the Grosvenor House Band (1935–37) and the singer Val Rosing (1935–37), with whose formations Swing Stars and The Radio Rhythm Rascals made recordings for Columbia and Regal-Zonophone ( Sweet Sue / Dinah 1935). The Melody Maker reader poll voted him # 11 Most Popular Guitarist. In 1938 he worked with Harry Saville, George Elrick and in Eric Winstone's quintet; he also began to write for music magazines such as BMG and Frets. In 1938 his composition Random Thoughts appeared in the textbook Modern Plectrum Guitar Playing by Dick Sadleir .
From 1939 he played in Arthur Young's Hatchett’s Swingtette , in which Beryl Davis was the band vocalist. In December 1939 he took part in recordings of the Swingtette with Stéphane Grappelli , in 1941 with Grappelli himself ( Dinah / Body and Soul ) and with George Shearing . From January 1941 he did military service with the Royal Marines , where he played with the Blue Mariners and participated in radio recordings for the BBC . In 1944 he was a session musician in the George Evans Orchestra. In the post-war years he mainly worked as a studio musician; he also appeared again in the Hatchett's restaurant in 1945/46. At the beginning of 1946 there were recordings with Django Reinhardt and Grappelli in London's Abbey Road Studios ( Nuages ); Other participants in the session were Allan Hodgkiss and Coleridge Goode . In 1947/48 he worked with Hoagy Carmichael ( Riverboat Shuffle ). From this time on he appeared frequently on the radio, including a. in the program Radio Rhythm Club and from 1949 in Mark White's Jazz Club .
In the 1950s he was an endorser for the guitar manufacturer Höfner for Great Britain. During this time the guitarists Bert Weedon , Ike Isaacs , Denny Wright , Roy Plummer , Judd Proctor, Frank Deniz and Freddie Phillips appeared in the Höfner Committee . In 1949 he worked with Eddie Carroll and in the 1950s with Norrie Paramor in his studio orchestras The Big Ben Banjo Band and The Big Ben Hawaiian Band . In 1956 he took part in recordings by George Chisholm ( Makin 'Whoopee ) and in 1956/57 with the pianists Malcolm Lockyer and Dennis Wilson ( Piano Moods ). In 1959 he played with Bert Weedon, 1960/61 with Tony Crombie ( Sweet Wild & Blue ). In the 1960s he accompanied Frank Sinatra on his performance at the London Palladium, Petula Clark and Cilla Black and at the end of the decade Marion Montgomery on recordings. Around 1972 he moved to Newton Abbott with his wife Molly , then to Cullompton in Devon. He died there in 1988 as a result of a traffic accident.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Portrait of John "Jack" Llewellyn Sr.
- ↑ a b Jack Llewellyn portrait page
- ↑ Memories of the Reinhardt session in 1946 with Paul Vernon ( Memento from February 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Vintage Hofner
- ^ Roy Plummer portrait with Paul Vernon ( Memento from February 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Llewellyn, Jack |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Llewellyn, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British jazz musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 23, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liverpool |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1988 |
| Place of death | Cullompton , Devon |