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HISTORY
of THE BAND
Just after the Swinging Sixties in about 1974
a group of fairly mature students, got together to form a
Jazz Band. They were either working or training at Coventry
Teachers Training College. This is now the West site of the
University of Warwick. They all had a love for the British
Traditional form of the music, derived from New Orleans Jazz
and the 1920's Classic Jazz played by Louis Armstrong, Bix
Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and others.
They also had a broad liking for music of later bigger bands
such as King Oliver, Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson.
In the front line of the band were Bob Jackson on Trombone,
Zoltan Sagi on Clarinet, and Terry Perry on Alto Saxophone.
In the rhythm section were Peter Jewel on String Bass and
Pete Roberts on Banjo. Also Pete's wife at the time, Marlene,
was the vocalist.
They started as a practice band playing for their own amusement.
Soon they desired the ultimate requirement of all artists,
public performance and recognition. To do this they needed
to make up the band to a typical line up. They approached
another local musician and a drummer to make up the full complement.
These were Watty to play Trumpet, and Jack Bolt to play Drums.
After a suitable practice period Bob Jackson, the natural
band leader and organiser, approached the Publican of a local
Hostelry, to see if he would let them play there. This was
The Half Sovereign in Charter Avenue Canley, Coventry. This
was quite close to the University, and the band commenced
public performances. The band was immediately popular, attracting
an enthusiastic student audience from the local area. Many
other jazz lovers from the surrounding area also attended
the weekly performances.
It was this venue which gave rise to the name of the band.
The room that the band played in, at The Half Sovereign, was
predominantly red in colour. So the band became "The Red
Room Jazz Band". Although the decor was red it was in
different shades of red in various parts of the room. So when
you ocasionally see the band in red shirts at a venue, they
will be in various shades of red to reflect the band origins.
There
was however confusion between "Red Room" and the
name of a certain successful race horse of the period. The
band regular venue also changed to a definitely un-red room,
in the cellar at Winstons, Leamington Spa. The name was soon
translated into French as "Jazz Salon Rouge". This
is a bit of a pun on the town Baton Rouge which is
very close to New Orleans in Louisiana, USA. It also
allies the band name to the French flavour of the Southern
States and the many Jazzmen of French Creole descent, like
Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory and Jelly Roll Morton.
Within a very short time, in 1975, Pete and his wife left
the band. John replaced him playing Banjo and Guitar. He eventually
took over the band organisation, in the early eighties. This
was when Bob Jackson left the band to further his career at
the University.
For various reasons, over the years, the venue of the regular
jazz club changed. The venues were :
The Half Sovereign - Coventry. Then next were The Cellar Bar
at Winstons ( later Top of the Town, then The Jekyll and Hyde,
now again called Winstons ), The Coach and Horses and The
Cork and Fork. All of these were in Leamington Spa. Then The
Eathorpe Park Hotel - Princethorpe, and finally The Fox &
Hen - Bascote Heath, near Southam. The band still plays here
on the First Friday of every month.
The band was originally invited to play at The Fox & Hen
by the Landlord at the time, Avo! When he left the
pub about 30 years ago, to take up less stressful employment,
as the Postmaster at Monks Kirby, he joined the band.
Various people left and others joined the band over the years.
Many of these are no longer with us, God rest their souls.
The musicians who have played regularly with the band in the
past include :
Trumpet - Watty, Cy Smith, Bob Barlow, Gordon Bastock,
Brian Saunders and Terry Beano who still returns to deputise
occasionally.
Clarinet / Reeds - Zoltan Sagi, Terry Perry, Dave Taylor,
Bob Caldwell and Mac Randle. Mac was with the band for over
30 years and still returns occasionally to help out when regulars
are on holiday.
Trombone - Bob Jackson, Laurence Williamson, Bob Reynolds,
Roy Burgess.
Banjo - Pete Roberts. Bass
- Peter Jewel, Graham (Lofty) Clarke.
Drums - Jack Bolt, Barry Potter, Don Squire, Malc Waters,
Tony Cowlishaw.
Piano - Fred Brownson, Stan Rawlings, The band do not
now feature a pianist.
Vocalist - Caz Shennington (until she left to join
George Huxley's band, but she still makes occasional guest
appearances).
Many other local musicians, too numerous to mention, deputise
when regular members go on Holiday, or are otherwise occupied.
The band has featured at many local jazz clubs :
The Cottage - Earlsdon, The Globe - Tamworth, The Greyhound
- Hinckley, The Jazz Club - Burton on Trent, Spiceball Park
- Banbury, The Forest Lodge - Kirby Muxloe, The Village Hall
- Cleeve Prior, The North Cotswold Jazz Club - Morton in the
Marsh, The
Cocked Hat - Coventry, The
British Legion - Solihull, The
Westwood Club - Coventry, The Sutton Coldfield Jazz Cub and
The British Legion - Knowle.
The band has played at the Upton Jazz Festival on seven occasions.
One of these was the BBC's special Jazz Songs of Praise presentation.
This featured Denise Lawrence as main Presenter and Performer.
Georgie, as well as singing with Jazz Salon Rouge on the Conway
Castle trip boat, performed the dedication at the end of the
Programme, with her husband Mark.
For eight years the band played Summer Music by the Lake at
Park Farm, Compton Verney. This was as complementary band
to the star bands of Kenny Ball, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra
the Charleston Chasers and the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. In
recent years this has been with more contemporary groups.
These were ABBA Magic, Sounds of the Bee Gees, Kings of Queen,
UK Beach Boys, Fake Beatles, Status Quote etc.
The band has acted as support band to Acker Bilk and his Paramount
Jazz Band at a concert in The Mercia Sporting Club in Coventry
a few years ago.