Stan Greig

Stan Greig (* as Stanley Mackay Greig on August 12, 1930 in Joppa near Edinburgh ; † November 18, 2012 ) was a Scottish jazz musician ( piano , also drums ) and band leader .

Live and act

Greig is the son of a piano maker and tuner . With Al Fairweather and his school friend Sandy Brown he played in high school in 1945; later they had a common band in Edinburgh, with which they also performed in London in 1953. In 1954 Greig finally moved to London and was a drummer in the Ken Colyers Jazzmen , with whom he also performed in Germany. In 1955 he worked for the first time with Humphrey Lyttelton , then with Bruce Turner (also as a pianist). In the late 1950s he worked again with Lyttelton, again in Al Fairweathers and Sandy Browns All Star Band (1958/59), in the 1960s mostly with Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band from 1960 to 1968. In 1960 he accompanied as a drummer Alexis Korner the blues musician Memphis Slim ( Blue this Evening ).

After 1969 the piano became Greig's main instrument; he led his own small formations and played mainly boogie woogie and blues piano . He accompanied Dave Shepherd and Johnny Hawksworth in the early 1970s ; then he founded the London Jazz Big Band in 1975 , which existed until 1985 and performed at 100 Club . From 1977 to 1980 he played with George Melly , then he went on tour as a band leader in Europe in 1980/82. He worked again with Lyttleton (this time as a pianist) from 1985 to 1995 and with Wally Fawkes in the 1990s . He played with his Stan Greig Trio (occasionally with Charlie Watts as a drummer) mainly in and around London. Also worked with Keith Smith , the Benny Waters / Freddy Randall Band and Art Hodes Blue Five & Six (1987). In the 1990s Greig led his own Harlem Blues and Jazz Band , with whom he toured mainland Europe. In 2000 he played in Laurie Chescoe's band ( Now We Are Ten ) and in 2002 with Acker Bilk. Due to Parkinson's disease , it has not been able to occur in recent years.

Discographic notes

Albums under your own name

• Stan Greig Trio (Calligraph)
• Boogie Woogie (Lake, 1971-1997)

Albums as a sideman

• Acker Bilk: The Traditional Jazz Scene, Vol. 1 (Teldec, 1959–63)
• Sandy Brown: McJazz and Friends (Lake, 1956-58)
• Ken Colyer: In the Beginning (Lake, 1953/54)
• Al Fairweather: Fairweather Friends made to Measure (Lake, 1957–61)
• Humphrey Lyttleton: The Parlophones - Volume One - Four (Calligrapph, 1949-59)
• Humphrey Lyttleton: Beano Boogie (Calligraph, 1989)
• 'Humphrey Lyttleton: Rent Party (Stomp Off, 1991/92),
• Humphrey Lyttleton: Hear Me Talkin 'to Ya (Calligraph, 1993)

literature

• Bielefeld catalog 1988 & 2002.
• John Chilton : Who's Who of British Jazz . London: Continuum International Publishing Group 2004, ISBN 0826472346 .
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary in The Guardian