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Dave Green
Born in London in 1942, he started on tea-chest bass in local skiffle groups before buying his first double bass at fifteen. Local gigs followed, often with neighbour Charlie Watts and trumpeter Brian Jones.
Turning professional in 1963 he worked with Keith Ingham and with multi instrumentalist Pete Shade. He joined the Don Rendell Quintet in the December, and remained with until 1969, by which time it had become the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet. In 1964 he worked with Benny Goodman on TV. In 1965 he joined Humphrey Lyttelton, remaining with the band for eighteen years, but managing to combine the work with playing with Stan Tracey, and accompanying many visiting American jazzmen.
He left Humph in 1983, but continued to work with Tracey into the 1990s. He also worked regularly with Michael Garrick and Henry Lowther, as well as leading his own group Fingers in 1980s.
He has worked and recorded with numerous groups in all styles of jazz. His list of credits would fill a book, but to list some of the musicians his Jimmy Blanton inspired playing has accompanied is essential, even in this small biography: Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Ruby Braff, Billy Butterfield, Yank Lawson, Pee Wee Russell, Kenny Davern, Peter King, Benny Carter, Sonny Rollins, Buck Clayton, Capt. John Handy, Barry Harris, Bob Wilber, Roland Kirk, Brian Lemon, Sweets Edison, Martin Taylor, Ken Peplowski, Warren Vache, Dick Wellstood and George Van Eps.
Add to this his tours with Charlie Watts Quintet to USA, Brazil and Japan, his being part of the Scott Hamilton Quartet for the last fifteen years and continuing to work with Alan Barnes, Henry Lowther, Gareth Williams and his own trio, and it's easy to see why he has become one of the most respected bass players in the world.
Recent recordings as part of the John Bunch Trio must be added to the list of credits. He has added a further event to his CV by joining the Chris Barber Band in April 2007
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Scott Hamilton Quartet: At PizzaExpress Live
by Dave Linn
"Cocktail jazz" is a term used to describe a jazz music style often played in upscale, sophisticated settings such as bars, restaurants, and hotels. It is typically characterized by its relaxed and laid-back feel and its use of melodic and harmonically accessible tunes that are pleasant to listen to. The Scott Hamilton Quartet release At PizzaExpress Live is a perfect example. Hamilton's long career (over fifty albums as a leader, many on the Concord Jazz label) is one ...
read moreThe Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet: Warm Up
by Chris May
British modern jazz was gaining new confidence in itself in 1965, when Warm Up, subtitled The Complete Live At The Highwayman 1965, was recorded. It needed to be. As Simon Spillett writes in his liner notes, at the time British jazzmen bravely fought a battle on two fronts, one against the stranglehold of American influence, the other against the Beatles." British jazzwomen, of course, were fighting on three fronts; but we can discuss that another time. A fourth front, fought ...
read moreHenry Lowther's Quarternity: Never Never Land
by Chris May
The British trumpeter and composer Henry Lowther, who first made an impact in the 1960s and released the well received album Can't Believe, Won't Believe (Village Life) in 2018, came to jazz via a circuitous route. After playing cornet in a provincial Salvation Army band, he moved to London around 1960 to study violin at the Royal Academy of Music. While a student, he encountered improvised Indian music and albums by Sonny Rollins, discoveries which encouraged him to commit to ...
read moreDave Green Trio plus Evan Parker: Raise Four
by Duncan Heining
Bassist Dave Green recorded this set for the BBC Radio 3 programme Somethin' Else in 2004. In the interview included here with the show's presenter Jez Nelson, Green reflects on a forty year career in jazz. It is fitting that this fine record, only his fourth as leader, sees its release in the year Green marks his 80th birthday. What a great way to celebrate a wonderful career! Less well-known than he should be beyond the UK and ...
read moreDon Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet: Blue Beginnings
by Chris May
Summer 2021 is proving to be the summer British jazz delved into its mid 1960s through mid 1970s album back catalogue and previously unreleased tape archive, with both major and specialist labels such as Jazz In Britain joining in the party. The spur to action is, of course, the new and unprecedented popularity of British jazz at home and abroad. The key to placing Blue Beginnings in its historical context is a quote from a contemporary review ...
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