Johnny Dover

Johnny Dover (* 1929 ; † October 28, 2002 in Brussels ) was a Belgian jazz and studio musician ( saxophones , clarinets ), band leader, arranger and composer .

Live and act

Dover began playing the saxophone and clarinet as an autodidact . At the age of 15 he founded his first jazz band and in 1948 won an award for best clarinetist at the International Jazz Competition of the Belgian Hot Club . From 1955 he worked as a professional musician in the orchestras of Ernst van't Hoff , Léo Souris , Jeannot Morales , Jack Say and Henri Seghers . During these years he played a. a. with Don Byas , Johnny Griffin , Slide Hampton , Bill Coleman and Horace Parlan. In 1963 he founded a jazz octet with which the album St. Tropez Jazz 0ctet goes Swing was created for the Europa label , stylistically based on the Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band . From 1966 he led a big band and played ten years in the orchestra of the Flemish broadcaster BRT under the direction of Francis Bay .

In addition to jazz, Dover also worked in the field of pop music, accompanied Caterina Valente on a world tour and played with artists such as Stan Getz , Shirley Bassey , Aretha Franklin , Natalie Cole , Barry White and Julio Iglesias . In the early 1970s he played in the fusion band Placebo , founded by Marc Moulin , of which Philip Catherine also belonged at times . In 1975 he founded the Sax Combination formation , a saxophone quintet.

Web links / sources

personal data
SURNAME	Dover, Johnny
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Belgian jazz musician and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH	1929
DATE OF DEATH	October 28, 2002
Place of death	Brussels