Ron Simmonds

Ron Simmonds (* 16th October 1928 in Winnipeg , Manitoba as Ronald Alan Simmonds ; † 24. October 2005 in Vania, Spain ) was a from Canada originating jazz musicians ( trumpet , piano , vocals , arrangements , composition ), who worked mostly in Europe and in Germany also became known as a music journalist and radio presenter with his program for the RIAS .

Live and act

Born in Canada, Ron Simmonds spent most of his youth in England; his parents came with him to Brentwood (Essex) in 1936 ; In 1940 the family moved to Coventry . He learned the trumpet at the age of 17 and became a member of the Tommy Simpson Orchestra at the age of 19. From 1949 he worked in numerous British big bands, such as Oscar Rabin , Leon Ray and Vic Lewis . In 1953 he went to Jack Parnell's Orchestra, with whom he would work regularly for the next ten years, as well as in its Associated Television Studio Orchestra . In the late 1950s, Simmonds was a member of the theater orchestra for the London production of West Side Story ; he has also appeared in Bill Russo's London Jazz Orchestra and with Kenny Baker's Dozen at the London Palladium. In 1960 he went to Ted Heath , where he replaced Bobby Pratt , in 1962 to John Dankworth . During this time, Simmonds often worked in Germany, where he participated in the annual jazz workshops of the NDR .

In 1963 he became a member of Max Greger's orchestra and lived in Munich . In 1965 he moved to West Berlin and played first with Jerry van Rooyen at Sender Freies Berlin , then with Werner Müller in the RIAS dance orchestra , as well as with guest bands such as the orchestras of Lionel Hampton , Stan Kenton , Quincy Jones , Henry Mancini and Oliver Nelson and with Herb Geller , Leo Wright , Ack van Rooyen , Åke Persson , Heinz von Hermann , Slide Hampton , Carmell Jones , Joe Harris and Rolf Ericson . In 1966 he performed at the jazz workshop in Recklinghausen a . a. with Albert Mangelsdorff and Ted Curson ; from 1971 to 1980 he was a member of Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination and Brass and also performed with Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan .

As a specialist in the works of George Gershwin, he worked as a trumpet soloist in the performance of An American in Paris , the Piano Concerto in F and the Rhapsody in Blue . During this time he took u. a. with Acker Bilk and finally got the opportunity to host his weekly jazz show for the American RIAS radio station in Berlin. The RIAS also broadcast a children's story he wrote and two plays; Simmonds was also the author of several film scripts. For ten years he worked in Cologne and Studio Berlin as an editor at Deutsche Welle for North America and the Far East.

After dental surgery, his lower lip remained paralyzed and he had to retire from his trumpet career. From then on, Simmonds worked as a concert pianist and became a member of the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra . In 1985 he was commissioned to arrange a Mozart symphony for the NDR Symphony Orchestra and the NDR Big Band . In the course of his career he also wrote arrangements for various German radio big bands, such as the WDR Big Band Cologne , the Erwin Lehn Orchestra and the Big Band of the Bundeswehr . He retired in 1993 and lived on the Costa Blanca for the rest of his life , performing occasionally with former musicians from Ted Heath and John Dankworth's bands.

Web links

• Ron Simmonds biography at Jazzprofessional
• Ron Simmonds at Allmusic (English)
• Ron Simmonds: Berlin Newsletter 1966
• Obituary by Steve Voce (2005) in The Independent