Pete Chilver

Peter William "Pete" Chilver , (born October 19, 1924 in Windsor (Berkshire) , England ; † March 16, 2008 in Edinburgh , Scotland ) was a British jazz guitarist and hotelier who is considered the pioneer of the electrically amplified guitar in England.

Live and act

Chilver first learned the piano as a student before switching to the ukulele and then to the guitar. At 15 he was a member of the Ken "Snakehips" Johnson Orchestra; at the age of 16 he left school to work as a draftsman. He also founded the band Silver Sovereigns , with whom he gave concerts on weekends at the Skindles Hotel near Maidenhead Bridge . Early influences were George Formby Jr. , then Django Reinhardt . He became known during World War II through his appearances in Maidenhead and Slough , and finally in London , where he played with the bands of Teddy Foster and Jimmy Mesene , and in jam sessions with American musicians from the bands of Glenn Miller and Sam Donahue .

In 1941 the Trinidadian guitarist Lauderic Caton came to London and played on the BBC with swing clarinetist Harry Parry . This was the first time an electrically amplified guitar had been heard in the UK. Caton's performances were an attraction in nightclubs in London's West End , such as the Caribbean Club in 1944, where Chilver met him. Caton encouraged him, built him an amplifier and let him play in his house band. This made Chilver one of the first British musicians to establish the electric guitar in Great Britain. In 1945 he bought a Gibson Super 400 .

The collaboration with the pianist Ralph Sharon followed ; the two won the Melody Maker Competition , whereupon Chilver and Sharon were hired by Johnny Claes and began to work as professional musicians. Carlo Krahmer produced some acetate recordings for the Chilver-Sharon Trio, which mostly played jazz standards in the style of the Nat Cole Trio with Oscar Moore .

In 1946 Chilver worked for Ray Ellington , then for Tito Burns ; 1947 with Jack Jackson, George Shearing and Stéphane Grappelli , with whom he appeared on television. After a trip to New York in 1947 he played with Ted Heath and Bert Ambrose , and as a guest musician with the Skyrockets when they accompanied Benny Goodman . In the late 1940s, Chilver was considered one of the most accomplished players of the new bebop style in England . In 1948 he recorded with Jack Parnell ; In 1949 he played with Ronnie Scott and Johnny Dankworth in Alan Dean's Beboppers . With Ronnie Scott he attended the Festival International 1949 de Jazz in Paris' Salle Pleyel in 1949 , where he met his idol Charlie Parker . The last recordings were made in 1950 with Ralph Sharon's sextet; That year he married Norma Domenico, sister of Ted Heath's singer Lydia MacDonnell, and ended his active music career to work as manager of the family's hotels in North Berwick , Scotland. The West End Cafe in one of the two family hotels became a popular jazz venue in Scotland in the 1950s.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary: Peter Chilver , The Guardian , 2008.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Portrait of Paul Vernon Chester ( Memento of the original from February 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Short portrait at sounds.uk
4. ↑ Discography: Peter Chilver ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .