Big Bands 3

John Humberstone in a piano, bass duo playing in the Grande Hotel Grasse, France

Sandra Browne performing with the Colin Chamley Band at the reunion in april 2012.

2012

Three Winter Gardens “ Female vocalists “ spanning the years 1957 to 2007 left Julie Dalton 10 years with Colin Chamley band,

centre Sandra Browne 27 years with Colin Chamley band, right Anne Trevor 8 years with Tommy Hopkins band.

Roy Waterhouse Band 1951

The Waterhouse brothers were a grimsby musicial family, Percy, Roy and Ernie Waterhouse all played in various jazz and Big Bands. Roys band won the Melody Maker Dance band Contest in the Grimsby region in 1951. Ernie played sax and Roy play the trumpet, both semi pros. They played at The Beachcomber Cleethorpes when he took a band in, composed mainly of ex Bob Walkers band from the Gaeity, who got finished when Mecca took over the business. John Humberstone played bass in this lineup.

Roys wartime service was in the Royal Marines and he landed withothers and was on the beaches of Normandy before the acual landing. He was a member of the underwater demolition teams disarming the beach defences.He recollects walking along the beach in the evening of D Day and hearing a landing ship broadcasting Glen Millers Moonlight Serenade.

Percy Waterhouse

Percy played in many of the London society bands but, notably with Victor Sylvester for many years (Sylvester was a non player although he was really a violinist).

Percy died in Grimsby in 2006 at the age of 101. He had a long and successful professional career playing sax and clarinet in many of the big bands of the era.

Victor Silvester & His Band (1930s)

Band Members:

Ben Edwards, Oscar Grasso, Charlie Pude,

Jack Phillips, Victor Parker, Percy Waterhouse,

Tony Mozr, Phil Kirby, Edward Pogson,

Tommy Hopkins and Sam Bass

Mystery Band from the 1920's

Immingham Loco Minstrel Troop

George Dales (deceased) playing with "Mellow Jazz" at the Etherington Arms, Holton-le-Clay 2005

Mellow Jazz

Billy Powell playing with Mike Salisbury and Derek Heywood in the Band "Mellow Jazz" at the Etherington Arms, Holton-le-Clay.

The band had a regular gig here, but this one celebrated Billy's 80th birthday. Billy sadly died soon after.

Noel Akester 2005 playing with Mellow Jazz

The Melody Maker's 1952 Dance Band Contest held at the Drill hall Lincoln

A Tribute to Frank Wilgaus :2014

The Colestreamers, a 1960's danceband,

over the years, the personel consisted of

Jack Tugby, saxophone

Frank Reeves, piano

Bob Duck, saxophone

Don Torrie, trombone

Barry Bradley, drums

Stan Corp, piano

Colin ??, drums

Jack Spafford, drums

and Keith Nicholson, saxophone

The 'Skyliners' were a fifties dance band, they played at the Crosby Hotel.

They would later morph into the 'Continentals'. The Continentals had a

residency spot at the Priory Hotel. The band featured Tom Ellis, tenor sax,

Tony Watson, alto sax, Dave Howsham, alto sax,Bob Johns, piano, Dave Stocks,

bass and Pete Thornton on drums. Bayliss Thomas later replaced Pete on drums.

Shortly after Bayliss joined, the band became 'Lou Lewis and the Stardusters'.

They played all the big venues of the time in Lincolnshire, Corn Exchanges and

Town Halls etc.

Bayliss Thomas would later join up with Johnny Mann and form the 'Johnny Mann

Quintet' other members were, Trevor Wheeler, piano, Don Ross, guitar and a bass

player.They played the Baths Hall, the Bridge and the Priory hotels.

Another dance band of the sixties were the Milestones. The band featured many

musicans over the years among them were Tony Watson, alto sax, Dave Stocks, bass,

Cliff Swinney, piano, Will Freear, Piano, Nev Chapman, bass, Trevor Leaning,trumpet,

Jimmy Walker, guitar, and Roy Frary, on vocals.

Keith Ivor Nicholson writes

The Melody Boys, Melody Maker Contest winners, with Maurice Lings, piano, Eric Hall, alto, Les Sharpe, tenor, Tommy Thompson trumpet, sometimes Alan Chambers tenor, Gordon Lewis alto, followed by Keith Nicholson on alto and Geoff Harrison trumpet, and Alan Kirkby on drums. Bernard Snelling came over from Grimsby about 1953, played alto and drums. The band had a minor falling out and Keith Ivor and his band formed in1954, when I used all the available guys except Maurice, but I made it up with him in 1958. The Playtimers, were terrific with Gordon Lewis on alto, Ken Francis on piano, Jimmy Walker on guitar and Jack(spaff)Spafford on drums. It was “Dancers Playtime” on a Wednesday night at the Crosby. Later to be followed by the accordion band “The Blighty Boys”. Jack Fagan had a very capable band that stuck to olde tyme dancing at the Drill Hall. In 1960 the Johnny Mann Band was born. This was to play for Monday nights in the upstairs at the “Baths”. Trevor Wheeler, piano, (not Cliff Swinney), Bill Frear a little later on piano, Owen Moorin on bass(that is not him on the picture of the Apex surely). Johnny (Mann) Denman, on drums, later learning the vibes and Malcom Scott coming in on drums. Don Ross on guitar, Trevor Leaning on trumpet, John Thompson on alto, Keith Ivor Nicholson on tenor later followed by Doug Wattam on bass, Bill Steel on trumpet, Pete Nicklin on piano all from Doncaster. When the Jack Stone Orchestra came as the house band a year later, Trevor Leaning, John Thompson and Keith Nicholson augmented the band. Also, in forming the Keith Ivor band in 1954, I was approached by Lou Lewis, to form an eight piece band, where we played at The Drill Hall, The Corn Exchange etc. The price to pay was that I had to bring in Pete Thornton on drums and lose Alan Kirkby, I went along with it under pressure from the rest of the band, and was never happy about this. In September of 1959, I was called up for National Service, as a result Lou Louis took the music(my pad), augmented the band and formed The Stardusters. So for some time after coming out of the army I was in the wilderness, until joining John Denman, although I did a few Dep. jobs locally. After playing with Jack Stone, I played the Baths residency with Roy Kentons Orchestra and that of Joe Garratt. After that I became Keith Ivor Vocalist and Multi-instrumentalist for 22 years, have since played with the Sounds Easy, Monsonaires, and my own small group on both trumpet and all the saxes.

. Cliff Swinney was a pianist and instrumental together with Trevor Leaning, Tony Watson, Bayliss Thomas in forming “The Milestones” not so much for dancing to but for playing jazz. Also in the fifties and sixties, Geoff Beacroft on drums together with Stan Corp on piano would get small jobs here and there, I can’t remember the band name . In the late fifties, a band was formed at “The Big Social”and played there for a few years, Maurice Lings, Stan Corp and Joan Godfrey being pianists there over the period, Barry Bradley, Ron (Goodman?) Jack Spafford used on drums, Viv Eames(Haymes), on bass(formerly with Ivy Benson), Bob Duck, Keith Nicholson on saxes. I forgot that Rex Cottam played guitar with the Arcadians in the fifties, his sister was Merle Cottam who had the dancing school. I also think it should be mentioned that Trevor Wheeler who played with the Johnny Mann band had a talented sister Joan, who was a much sought after operatic singer, who in later years became known as “Brittania” starring in the open air Belton Concerts. Wes Lawrence was a local teacher who formed a one off band for a parent teacher dinner dance, which the became the start of the Scunthorpe Big Band around 1982. This came to a halt some years later and then John Nockles formed the Don Thorpe band around 2000. This was comprised of musicians from Hull, Grimsby, Doncaster, Lincoln and Scunthorpe . After John died the band struggled on a few years but is now no longer.

Info supplied by Keith Ivor Nicholson