The Godfather
of British Jazz
The Life and Music of Stan Tracey
Clark Tracey
Clark Tracey is an award-winning drummer,
composer, arranger and band leader, who spent
thirty-five years on the road as a member of his
fathers groups. He is also a record producer, the
promoter of a jazz club and jazz festival, a teacher
and the author of a drum tutorial.
2017 342pp 234 x 156mm Illus.
hb ISBN 9781781793534
39.95 / $49.95 29.96 / $37.46
eBook ISBN 9781781793893
25%
discou
Availa nT
ble
This is the first biography of jazz pianist and composer Stan Tracey CBE (1926
2013). Drawing on personal diaries, Stans many interviews over a career that
spanned 70 years, and his own recollections of working with his father, Clark Tracey
draws a picture of what made Stan Tracey a unique character in jazz music. In this
very personal account, Stans wit and wisdom come shining through in abundance.
The book begins with Stans memories of war-torn London and his first experiences
of hearing jazz. As a teenager, he joined ENSA and the RAF Gang Show. During
the next three years he played at more venues than many musicians do in a lifetime,
including a period in the Middle East. Once demobbed, Stan befriended pianist
Eddie Thompson, vibraphonist and drummer Victor Feldman and clarinettist Vic
Ash and began his professional career. He toured with Kenny Bakers band and
the Kirchin Band before joining the Ted Heath Orchestra, after which he began
recording under his own name. He was invited by Ronnie Scott to be the house
pianist at Scotts new club, where his legendary status grew in the next six years.
He accompanied giants of American jazz such as Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Roland
Kirk, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard and many others. During this period he
wrote and recorded the seminal album Under Milk Wood, which to this day remains
his best-selling work. Stan left Ronnies club during a period of drug addiction and
in the 1970s found himself penniless. His wife Jackie employed her skill in the music
business and began presenting concerts to keep Stan afloat, while he found new
musical friends in the free/improvised idiom of the time, such as Mike Osborne and
Keith Tippett. Commissions for suites emerged and Stans writing skills found an
outlet through the formation of his various groups that were to last for nearly thirty
years. Stans achievements and awards are numerous and in many cases unique.
As well as an OBE and a CBE, he received several lifetime achievement awards and
in his last year was the first recipient of the Ivor Novello Jazz Award.
The book includes a complete discography of all commercial recordings featuring
Stan Tracey, compiled by Stephen Didymus.
Contents
Preface 7 Time and Changes
1 Early Inspiration 8 Nepotism Begins at Home
2 A Wing and a Prayer 9 Onwards and Sideways
3 Champing at the Jazz Bit 10 The Jazz Marie Celeste
4 Soho Nights 11 Twas Ever Thus
5 Late Set 12 The Godfather of British Jazz
6 Grass Roots Notes, Discography and Index
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