John Burch

John Burch (born January 6, 1932 in London as John Alexander Burchell , † April 18, 2006 ) was a British jazz and R&B musician (piano, composition).

Live and act

Burch played boogie-woogie as a child ; from the age of twelve he received piano lessons. During his military service, he was active in army bands in Germany. After his release, he performed with R&B musicians such as Graham Bond and Terry Lovelock before founding his own trio with which he played in soldiers' clubs in the American armed forces in Europe, for example in 1959 with Jeff Clyne and Bobby Wellins in France. In the summer of 1960 he got an engagement with the Jazzmakers from Allan Gankey and Keith Christie , in 1961 to switch to Don Rendell with Tony Archer , with whom he recorded the album Roarin ' . At the end of 1962, Burch founded his own octet, initially with Graham Bond and Ginger Baker , among others, and later with Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jack Bruce , which he also maintained in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, he worked as a companion for traveling soloists at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and also belonged to the groups of Tommie White and Lennie Breslaw. He has also appeared with Ray Warleigh , Kathy Stobart and Georgie Fame and toured with Ron Russell in 1974; he arranged for Fame for many years. In the 1980s and 1990s he was a member of the Dick Morrissey quartet . In 1996 he was in Don Rendell's Reunion Band . After the turn of the millennium he concentrated on his own formations, especially on his quartet. He died of complications from cancer.

His compositions were also played by Georgie Fame and Buddy Rich . In 2015, The Ghost Album was released posthumously under his name .

Lexical entries

• John Chilton , Who Is Who in British Jazz London 2005; ISBN 978-0826472342

Web links

• Obituary The Guardian May 18, 2006
• John Burch at Allmusic (English)
• John Burch at Discogs (English)