In May, 2019, due to ill health, I reluctantly had to retire from playing Traditional jazz piano.

It all started after I graduated in Classical Music at the Royal Manchester College of Music, and started teaching music at a secondary school in Tottenham, North London in 1960. Between 1960 and 1962, I was inspired by listening to the piano playing of Des Bacon with Mike Daniel's Delta Jazz Band and Ray Smith of Steve Lane's Southern Stompers, and as a novice joined a band.

I played with Brian Green's New Orleans Stompers from 1964 to 1967. The personnel included Brian (drums), Alan Snook (trumpet), John Wurr and Alex Revell (clarinet), Bob Renvoize and Gordon Bluntly (trombone), with Charlie Morris (banjo). During my time with the band, we did four national BBC radio broadcasts, one of which featured George Melly (vocals). On one occasion we welcomed Louis Armstrong at Heathrow Airport, and he joined in and sang Hello Dolly with us. Acker Bilk and Chris Barber also sat in with us on the jazz club circuit.

In 1966, a Louis Hot Five-style band was formed, specialising in the Armstrong Hot Five and Seven repertoire, featuring myself (piano), Jake Spalding (trumpet), John Maddocks (clarinet), Bob Renvoize (trombone) and Charlie Morris (banjo). We played Sunday lunchtimes at the Whyte Hart, Drury Lane, to a very small audience for no money, but we sure enjoyed the music!

During this time, I depped for five weeks with the New Sedalia Jazz Band, then led by the brilliant seventeen-year-old multi-instrumentalist Keith Nichols on trombone. Other personnel included Mick Burns (trumpet), Derek Else (clarinet) and Jack Griffiths (tuba).

In 1967, I joined George 'Kid' Tidiman's New Era Jazz Band, with Alan Gresty (trumpet), Jim Herd (clarinet), Barry Dew (banjo), Steve Nice, followed by Ron Houghton (drums). The string/brass bass player was John Arthy, who knew I could read music, and he asked me to join his Pasadena Roof Orchestra. Although I was the third pianist to join the band, it was still in its early days; I did have the pleasure of playing on their first LP record. Jake Spalding and Bob Renvoize were also in the band at the time. Jake was best man at my wedding — I'm pleased to report that I have been happily married for 52 years. Jake, Tony Shapiro (Helen's cousin) on guitar and myself did a few 'rehab' sessions at my home with Cy Laurie, as he had been meditating in India for a long time.

Reverting to my four years with the New Era Jazz Band, I enjoyed an excellent BBC radio broadcast, and we won the 'clapometer' on 'Opportunity Knocks' with Hughie Green. We also backed trombonist George Chisholm at a club session.

Before moving to Blackburn in 1972, I did 18 months with a very happy band, namely the Eastside Stompers featuring Ron Burrow (trumpet), Len Hodgson (trombone), Steve Howlett (clarinet), John Barron (banjo) and Bill Finch (drums).

My first Lancashire band was Accrington's Riverside Jazz Band with Jim Heap (trombone), Colin Brownrigg (trombone), John Brunton and later Jack Schofield (reeds), Ron Payton (banjo), Harold Hallworth (bass), plus his brother Melvyn (bass). This band had the great pleasure of backing star guests now and again. These included, Pat Halcox, John Crocker, Alex Welsh, John Barnes, Roy Williams, Digby Fairweather and, from the US, Benny Waters (reeds) who had played with King Oliver and Clarence Williams.

When the Riverside band folded, I joined the East Lancashire band, the Forest New Orleans Jazz Band, which still plays every Tuesday at the Union Exchange pub in Colne town centre. Arthur Stead (trumpet), Jack Moore (trombone), and Dave Stanley (drums) were the mainstay of the band. At the time of my retirement from the 'Forest' in April, 2019, the other four of us had previously been ex-Accrington, Riverside members.

In 1992, I got together with Alan Duckles (cornet) and Barrie Marshall (clarinet) who played for Lancaster's Riverside Jazz Band, with Alan's wife Geraldine (banjo), Colin Turner (tuba), plus the excellent Blues singer Delia Glaister. The pub we started playing at was on the River Lune at Lancaster. There already existed the Lune Valley Jazz Band, so we christened the band, the Quayside Hot Stompers after St. George's Quay, where the pub was. The others elected me to be the band's leader. As well as two festival trips to Germany, the band played ten Keswick Jazz Festivals, twice at Bude and once at the Lockerbie Jazz Festival, plus a few at Pickering, Whitley Bay and Hexham festivals. The band broadcasted a number of times on BBC Jazz FM, a New Orleans radio station, plus one in Buenos Aires!! This band retired about three years ago due to the bereavement of Alan and Delia.

I also had a number of ad hoc sessions with Dennis Armstrong (cornet) in the 1980s and '90s, until he, sadly for us, moved to Bristol. Dennis and I played for clarinettist Chris Watford's band at Clevedon Festival and Whitley Bay Festival, where I also had the pleasure in previous visits, to dep in Mike Durham's West Jesmond Rhythm Kings and Jim Shelley's excellent Watters-style Frisco Band with two trumpets. I also did a few gigs with George Huxley (reeds) and Gordon Whitworth (trumpet), who surprised me with his excellent ukulele solos.

Harking back to the sixties, in 1965, I went with Charlie Morris for a weekend in Paris and heard Iralki's Band, and we sat in with trombonist, Mowgli Jospin's High Society Jazz Band with Claude Rabanit (trumpet), who played on some recordings with Sidney Bechet, including the famous Dans Les Rues D'Antibes. Mowgli is the uncle of the former French President Lionel Jospin. I understand George Huxley is related to Aldous Huxley and that Canadian born clarinettist Wally Fawkes is a direct descendent of Guy Fawkes!!

How lucky I am to have played with so many excellent players over 57 years. Many thanks to them all..

Tom Culbert

Tom passed away in October 2020 and his tribute page can be seen here