[BITList] Success, on the slide

Sun Mar 29 16:02:03 BST 2015

I remember him well…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNyPWqo8CAU <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNyPWqo8CAU>

ooroo

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Chisholm,  George  (1915-1997), trombonist, was born at 47 Ardenlea Street, Glasgow, on 29 March 1915, the son of George William Chisholm, woodturning machineman, and his wife, Mary, nee Clennachan. His family was musical: his father played drums, his mother the piano, and his two brothers, Bert and Ron, were proficient on trumpet and piano. He joined a children's concert party at an early age and by the time he was seventeen he was working as a pianist at a Glasgow cinema. Inspired by records of the American trombonist Jack Teagarden he took up this brass instrument and played it while working with Louis Freeman's band at the Glasgow Playhouse in 1934. The following year he went to London to work with the band of violinist Teddy Joyce, leaving a year later to play in various 'society' bands at such West End clubs as The Nest and the Bag O' Nails. It was at these clubs that he met the American saxophonist and bandleader Benny Carter, who invited him to record with his band in the Netherlands. On 25 July 1938 he married Eileen Bridget Tierney (b. 1908/9), daughter of Alexander John Tierney, wire worker.

Playing alongside Carter and Coleman Hawkins did much to enhance Chisholm's international reputation as an outstanding jazz trombonist. In August 1938 he cut short his honeymoon in Jersey in order to make some records in London with Fats Waller, who was then touring Britain. By now Chisholm was a member of the prestigious dance orchestra led by Bert Ambrose. A few months after the outbreak of the Second World War he and eight other musicians from Ambrose's orchestra joined the RAF, forming a major part of the newly created RAF Dance Orchestra. The band became known as the Squadronaires, with Chisholm its principal trombonist and arranger. The Squadronaires established a reputation as one of the finest swing bands in Britain, and following the end of hostilities it continued to work as a civilian unit. Chisholm stayed with the band until 1950 when he left to freelance.

In 1952 Chisholm joined the new BBC Show Band under the direction of Cyril Stapleton, and he remained a member for five years. During the same period he appeared frequently on radio with the Baker's Dozen, a jazz group put together by trumpeter Kenny Baker and featuring some of the best of Britain's jazz players. But it was his work in the studios with the Show Band that brought about a second career for Chisholm. He was a member of the orchestra that appeared on the Goon Show, which starred Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, two men with a love for jazz and its performers. Chisholm was given small comedy parts in the show and his own character, the McChisholm of McChisholm; he later expanded on his ability to make people laugh when he joined the long-running television production The Black and White Minstrel Show.

Chisholm succeeded in combining the roles of busy session musician with those of jazz soloist and comedian. He led his own group, the Gentlemen of Jazz, for many years, and took them to play at the Nice jazz festival on one occasion. He was also invited to play at the annual Dick Gibson jazz party in Denver, Colorado, a high-profile gathering of leading international jazz musicians. He made several appearances with trumpeter Alex Welsh's band, including concerts at the Royal Festival Hall dedicated to the music of Louis Armstrong. In addition he produced several recordings under his own name with such musicians as Kenny Baker, Tommy Whittle, and Tony Coe.

Chisholm suffered a heart attack in 1978, overcame it, and resumed his playing career. Four years later he had a successful heart bypass operation and celebrated with a tour of Britain as featured soloist with trumpeter Keith Smith's band. In 1984 he was appointed OBE for his services to jazz in Britain, but his reputation as a brass player of the highest quality was known beyond the confines of jazz. He was frequently invited to perform with the leading brass bands, including the Grimethorpe, Royal Doulton, and Yorkshire Imperial. In 1986 he was the featured soloist on a recording made by the John Laing (Hendon) band under its musical director Donald Morrison.

Chisholm's catholic musical taste was exemplified by the diversity of jazz recording sessions and concerts at which he appeared. In the mid-1940s he played on a series of dates for the Columbia label with the somewhat incongruous title 'Victor Silvester's Jive Band'. In 1968 he appeared on an album of tunes from the musical Hair in a small band under the leadership of clarinettist Sandy Brown which also contained noted avant-garde musicians Kenny Wheeler and John McLaughlin. His appearance as one of the supporting musicians with Louis Armstrong at the Royal Festival Hall in December 1956 gave him particular pleasure. It was Armstrong's first visit to Britain since the early 1930s, and the occasion was a concert in aid of the Hungarian and Central European Relief Fund.

Chisholm married a second time, and the Chisholm family's musical tradition was continued when his daughter Carol Moore became a professional singer. (She and her father made a record together in the 1970s.) He was a very popular figure among musicians. His fellow trombonist Campbell Burnap wrote in his Guardian obituary: 'his instantly recognisable trombone style and his soft Scottish voice remained very special features of the international jazz scene until ill-health forced his retirement in 1992'  (The Guardian, 9 Dec 1997). Chisholm's last years were afflicted by Alzheimer's disease. He died at Highclere House, Downs Barn, a nursing home at Milton Keynes, on 6 December 1997. He was survived by a son from his first marriage and the daughter and son of his second marriage; his second wife predeceased him.

Alun Morgan 

Sources  J. Chilton, Who's who of British jazz (1997) + J. Godbolt, A history of jazz in Britain (1984) + The Guardian (9 Dec 1997) + The Times (9 Dec 1997) + Daily Telegraph (9 Dec 1997) + The Independent (10 Dec 1997) + b. cert. + m. cert. + d. cert.
Likenesses  photograph, 1984, Hult. Arch. · S. Gibbons, photograph, 1989, Redferns Music Picture Library, London [see illus.] · photograph, repro. in The Times · photograph, repro. in The Guardian · photograph, repro. in Daily Telegraph
Wealth at death  under £180,000: probate, 27 Feb 1998, CGPLA Eng. & Wales

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