John Reade RIP
An original rag by John Reade - "Trip the
Light Fantastic"
12/10/22 - Sue Reade writes, "It is with a sad heart that I have to tell you that my husband John died yesterday after suffering with Alzheimer's Disease for about 5 years and very recently Peripheral Vascular Disease. He is now at peace and no longer in any pain. He played piano with the Harlem Hot Stompers and depped with many bands in the Northwest. As well as the gigs I have missed his practising at home. I will forward the funeral details when they are finalised".
You can read about John & hear him playing ragtime on
Sue
Reade's website 12/10/22 - Very sad news about John: My years with the Harlem HS were especially enjoyable with John’s wry humour, his immaculate piano skills and his deep understanding of the music. Our thoughts are with Sue and family: Kay and Jon Critchley 12/10/22 - Sad news indeed. Jon was pianist with the Zenith Hot Stompers for 5 years in the 1960s when I was on sousaphone. An excellent musician. - Terry McGrath 13/10/22 - Sad to hear about John Reade. I remember him from his days with The Harlem Hot Stompers. A very nice man and a good pianist as well. My condolences to Sue, who I also remember, as she would accompany John on his visits to our Warner Jazz Breaks at Alvaston Hall and Gunton Hall ... In the good days of weekend breaks! Pete Lay 13/10/22 - John Reade was a founder member of the Harlem Hot Stompers in October 1969. He was an outstanding ragtime pianist and did all the Band arrangements. He played regularly until about 5 years ago when ill health prevented him from playing full sessions. He continued to come to Didsbury to play a solo at the interval.A much valued member of the band and will be sadly missed.
Ian McCann 13/10/22 -
I
was terribly sad to hear of John Reade’s passing. I have
known him for a long time, since I was 18 in fact. He was
studying for his PhD at Cambridge when I arrived and found
him playing with Barry Parser’s Savoy Jazzmen. Along with
Phil Probert and other talented young musicians, we quickly
drew him into our university band, the Idle Hour Jazz Band,
and proceeded to have a wonderful time, including a
hilarious two-month tour of the French Riviera in the summer
of 1965. Later John returned to the Midlands for a while,
where he played with the excellent Zenith Hot Stompers,
before he established himself as a Maths professor at
Manchester University and joined the equally impressive,
Harlem Hot Stompers. 17/10/22 - So sad to hear about John. I remember his first gig with the Mick Burns Rhythm Kings (the band which morphed into the Harlem Hot Stompers) and was immediately impressed by his superb piano technique and knowledge of classic jazz. Also impressive, in the days before portable electric keyboards, was his ability to play on out of tune pianos by transposing the band key to fit in with the rest of us. We were both interested in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra and I had some very pleasant visits to his house to listen to his collection of their early recordings, which was much superior to mine. Anyone who can source copy of the LP recorded by the Mick Burns band will hear a great example of John's remarkable talent. - Colin Turner 18/10/22 - Trevor
Stent writes of John that he had a 'very strict (too strict
for some tastes) sense of rhythm'. Strict? I should say so!
The first time I stood in on bass with the Harlem Hot
Stompers I was warned - warned! - in no uncertain terms by
both Dave Berry (drums) and Ian McCann (banjo/guitar) that I
was on no account to play during John's piano solos (and
neither were they of course). Who was this monster that they
were all so afraid of? It puzzled me at the time, but as
soon as I stood back for the first of his solos I
understood. This man was special, and any attempt to support
his playing by providing a rhythm section would, or at least
could, have compromised its integrity. Some years later he
wrote the sleeve notes to Stompin' at the Jazz Cafe, the
album Dave, Ian and I recorded for George Buck with
Bricktop's Red Onion Jazz Babes after our first trip to New
Orleans, and he was very generous to all of us; but I have
to confess that I was always a little bit afraid of him
after that first encounter. I feel privileged to have played
with him, if only in the choruses! 28/10/22 - John was a founding member of The Harlem Hot Stompers which I joined in the early 60's together with my then husband Neil Flynn [banjo] and his brother Jim Flynn [drums]. I sang with this great band for well over 20 years and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. John's total understanding of all the technical aspects of the music were astounding, he was such a very intelligent unassuming man and full of humour. He was a wizard with arrangements and could immediately tell everyone what note they should be playing. He is a great loss to all of us who were fortunate to have made music with him.
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