Gordon Jack

My first exposure to jazz was hearing Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer at the Royal Festival Hall in 1957. In the sixties I played baritone in rehearsal bands and on one occasion while rehearsing at the BBC Harry Rabinowitz talked us through some of the charts which was quite an experience. I began working in R&B bands one of which was fronted by the American Freddie Mack, a former world-ranked middleweight boxing champion. I also played with the Deakin Lewis Soul band opposite some of the stars of the day such as Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Witherspoon, Stevie Winward and Spencer Davis – all for very little money as I recall. That band was also resident at the 100 Club and the Café des Artistes in Chelsea for quite a while. Later I spent over 30 years on the semi-pro gig scene in London and the Home Counties – everything from weddings in the Old Kent Rd. to Ladies Nights at the Waldorf Hotel. I no longer play the saxophone but I take it out of its case occasionally and gaze lovingly at it. I started contributing to Jazz Journal and Crescendo in 1994 and 30 of my interviews have been published by Scarecrow Press under the title Fifties Jazz Talk. In 2003 I provided a discography of Gerry Mulligan’s numerous unissued recordings for Raymond Horricks’ biography of the great man.