Remembering Kenny Ball

Since I took over Jazz Record Requests last year, one of the most frequently requested British musicians has been Kenny Ball, who died this morning. It shows just how much he touched the hearts of listeners — whether it was via the Morecambe and Wise show, his top ten hits, or evenings spent in jazz clubs and concerts — that the full range of his work gets asked for. A couple of weeks ago it was his hit record of 'The Green Leaves of Summer', and yet this Saturday we’ll be remembering him with an absolutely blistering version of the jazz standard 'High Society' in which Kenny nonchalantly doubles up the set-piece clarinet solo, which is hard enough for most reed players, let alone trumpeters!

I played support to Kenny in various bands over the years, so I have had the chance to hear him at first hand on many occasions, as well as having an insider’s view of his backstage personality, which was just as cheeky and cheery as it appeared on stage. However, I was always rather glad that the bands I was with did not have to wear the white suits or jackets that Kenny's band often wore – how did they keep them clean, or avoid spilling things down the lapels?

The main thing I remember was his band’s relentless energy on stage. I think they took their cue from him, because certainly in his heyday, when I first heard him, the power and precision of his trumpet playing carried the whole band with it. Hearing him carve out the classic Louis Armstrong choruses on 'Potato Head Blues' or the series of solo breaks he took at the end of his version of 'Blue Turning Grey Over You' is still as thrilling as it was the very first time I heard him.

Latterly Kenny was often on 'Three Bs' concerts with Chris Barber and Acker Bilk, and I fondly remember his guest spot for Chris’s 70th birthday party on BBC Radio 2. During a most convivial evening afterwards Kenny recalled (with Lonnie Donegan) the great days of the 50s and 60s. His ebullience, good humour and larger-then-life personality will be much missed.

On the Radio 3 Facebook page, some more pictures from the archive.

Obituaries from The Telegraph, The Guardian and from BBC News.

Kenny and his Jazzmen on the Morecambe and Wise Show in the 1970s.