Tommy Sampson

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Tommy Sampson (* 1918 ; † October 20, 2008 in Dunfermline ) was a Scottish band leader and trumpeter / cornet player.

Life

Sampson played cornet in the Salvation Army from an early age . In 1939 he joined the British Army (Royal Artillery) and in June 1942 was captured by Italy near Tobruk , which lasted until 1945 in Italy and Germany, where he organized choirs and bands in captivity. He then led the Scottish Command Dance Orchestra until his discharge from the army in 1946. As a civilian he founded his own big band (17 members at the time), which played for the first time in January 1947 with great success in the Eldorado Ballroom in Leith (Scotland) near Edinburgh . They toured the UK and in 1948 Europe (Italy and Germany) for Combined Services Entertainment (CSE) until his health and financial reasons forced him to quit the band in December 1949. Many of his musicians were then in Ted Heath's band .

He then worked in London for music publishers (Chappel's), as an arranger and sang and arranged with the George Mitchell Choir (for ten years) and the vocal group Sapphires. For two years he directed and arranged for the BBC Welsh Dance Orchestra and its choir. Then he moved back to Scotland. There he led his own dance and show bands in the Glasgow area and in Edinburgh hotels. He later moved to Dunfermline . He organized charity concerts and the Christmas concerts of the Salvation Army. Most recently he led a band at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in 2008.

His 1940s big band later enjoyed an almost legendary reputation, even if there are no recordings on record (the only Decca recording was not released and is likely lost). There are, however, recordings from the BBC radio broadcasts that were privately pressed onto a record and are collector's items. Edwin Holland was the arranger of his band. The model for the band was Stan Kenton's big band .

Small groups of his musicians played bebop in 1949 . Members of his band in the 1940s included Ralph Hutchinson , saxophonist Joe Temperley , clarinetist Henry Mackenzie , Ron Simmonds (trumpet), Phil Seamen , Hank Shaw , Alan Davey , Johnny Hawksworth (bass).

Possibly Johnny Dankworth (who also led a successful band in the 1940s) played on some radio recordings.

The line-up of his band in 1947 was:

  • Trumpet (except Sampson): Stan Reynolds , Duncan Campbell , Alec McGregor, Bert Courtley ,
  • Trombone: Ralph Hutchinson, Clare Welsh, Bill Paxton, Andy Young,
  • Saxophone (or clarinet): George Hunter, Lew Warburton, Joe Temperley, Henry Mackenzie, Jimmy Waugh
  • Piano: Dave Simpson
  • Guitar / vocals: Terry Walsh
  • Bass: Sammy Stokes
  • Drums: Dougie Cooper

Singers were u. a. Gloria Duval, Anne Gray.

literature

  • Tony Middleton Tommy Sampson and his Orchestra 1946-1949. A bio-discography , 1992

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In the obituary of the Dunfermline Press Newhaven is given as the place of birth, in Chilton Who's who of British Jazz , Continuum, 2004, only Scotland 1918
  2. ↑ How the third trombonist Johnny Keating became the arranger at Heath
personal data
SURNAME Sampson, Tommy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British band leader and trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH 1918
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 2008
Place of death Dunfermline