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THE
DEATH OF OUR JAZZ COLLEAGUE JOHN STAVORDALE
By Joe
Silmon-Monerri
John Stavordale, passed away in the evening of February 25th, 2012,
after a long but stoical struggle with Cancer. He was,
surprisingly 83; born John Stavordale EMES-THOMAS, in Blackpool on
July 19th 1928. At age 11 he was taken to Prestatyn, where he
remained until he moved to Bramhall, Manchester, in the 1960s. The
surname mystery shall be explained later. To speak to him, one
wouldn't know what from?, or how?, he was suffering. He bore it all
like a hero, like the trooper he always was; by making light of the
situation, with a joke about this or that.
John was not a man to dwell on being sad or downhearted. His was a
positive outlook 24/7, all-year-round, and I don't think that I can
ever remember him without a smile on his face. I don't think he
would have liked to see sad faces at his funeral. He was a kind and
generous man who left us all with a good image of his persona and of
his inherent generosity, both in kind and in spirit. I know how much
his wife, Brenda, his son and daughters and other members of his
family, will miss him and I am sure that the whole of the Manchester
Jazz community (musicians and friends) will join me in extending our
deepest condolences to Brenda and his children: Julia, Mandy,
Louise, Karen and Andrew.
John's funeral service will take place on Tuesday, March 6th, at
Stockport Crematorium, in the Rowan Chapel, at 1 p. m. There will be
a reception later at Stockport Rugby Club, Headlands Road, Bramhall,
SK7 3AN, although I had originally been told that this would be held
at Davenport Rugby Club and this was announced, as such, on Fred
Burnett's website. John's son, Andrew, has passed on a message to
say that " . all are very welcome to join the family for a drink and
refreshments and to listen to a little live music ." - i. e. at the
Rugby Club.
Brenda had asked George Galway to form a band to give John a good
local Jazz send-off. I believe George already has the basic nucleus
of a band; however, no doubt, others will want to sit in, to help
celebrate John's long and illustrious life on the Manchester Jazz
scene, which seems to have started in the 1960s, after a good deal
of dance-band and big-band work. John was among the mourners at the
funeral of Manchester Jazz Revival pioneer Derek Poole (trombonist/
bassist, ex-Smoky City Stompers, from the late 1940s- early 50s) who
also sadly passed away, in January 2009. We shall look at the
connection with George Galway and others below.
Derek Poole and John had played together in numerous bands over the
decades, many of them led by multi-instrumentalist Frank Etchells,
his main band being "Etch and His Quads". But being such a versatile
drummer, John was frequently found depping for many a local Jazz
drummer, despite his original dance-band background. He was such a
good all-rounder. However, he tended to spend more time away from
the main Jazz scene, unless he was in our clubs to listen, rather
than participate, or just out relaxing with friends.
I first encountered John and his drumming at the old Warren Bulkeley
Hotel in Stockport, which became a leading Jazz venue from the 1960s
onwards, then managed by "Pirate" Jim Jacobs and his then wife Anne,
shortly after my time with the London band - the Back O'Town
Syncopators. John supported my many ill-fated bands at the Warren,
and often sat in with us, sometimes bringing Frank Etchells, who
would sit in with anybody!!! However, John and I eventually played
together more frequently in a big hotel called the Belgrade, in
Offerton, Stockport, during the 1970s, whenever our regular drummer,
Eric Fletcher, needed a break, especially when Maurice Cotterell was
on piano, standing in for the great Maurice Hope. The late Les
Emmett (a pianist) was also a life-long band- mate of John's. They
often came as a pair to those Belgrade sessions. Pianist Noel
Broadgate, too, knew and played with John frequently over the
decades.
In the 1970s, John started working at Ganders Go South, a large
restaurant-bar in a very large basement underneath Barton Arcade,
off St. Ann's Square, Manchester, with the late Don Long. Don ran
various sized outfits at Ganders' into the 1990s. However, the IRA
bomb at the nearby Arndale Centre in the 90s put paid to all those
wonderful sessions, that sometimes included myself, before I left
the area in 1989, for work in Cheltenham. George Galway frequently
played on the front line at Ganders with Don and a great variety of
pianists (Les Emmett, Alan Howarth, Vinny Parker, Dave Dunbar, etc.);
drummers (Moe Green, Pete Staples, Dave Berry, Dave Moore, etc., and
of course John) and bassists (Bill Carton, Colin Smith, Pete Taylor,
Paul Bennison and others). So this is the connection I referred to
above; John and George played a good deal together at Ganders. It
seemed fitting that he should be asked to commemorate the event as
John would have liked it. John's last session, with the George
Galway Quintet, was at the Plaza Theatre, Stockport, not many months
ago, which makes it is even more appropriate.
Like many musicians in locally based venues, John drifted in and out
of a number of other local outfits, not always Jazz-based; then,
over the decades he favoured better quality work in hotel and night
club settings, and he seemed to settle more into Jazz-based
dance-music (a variant of cocktail-Jazz - something I like too).
John spent many years in bands with Derek Poole Noel Broadgate and
Frank Etchells, and these musicians and their wives became life-long
friends.
A big attraction for John at the time, was that Derek was an expert
vibraphone player, apart from his expertise at the double bass and
formerly on the trombone. As a percussionist, the sound of the
vibraphone, especially one well played, was something John truly
admired. It was John's personal comfort zone. They all seemed also
to gravitate into each other's company, both socially and semi-
professionally. Sometimes, harmonious friendship makes for the best
Jazz. There's nothing like harmony, on or off stage. "Etch and his
Quads", the quartet run by multi-reedman, engineer and instrument
repairer, the late Frank Etchells, largely up to approximately the
mid-1970s, provided several necessary comfort zones; the members
worked as a single unit, conscious and familiar with each other's
approach to the music. In that quartet, the four musicians involved
- although the line-up occasionally varied - won a number of coveted
Jazz band awards between the 1950s and 70s, some of which were
presented during their residency at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool,
when that venue still featured name big bands and Jazz groups. None
of the awards could have been won without the happiness felt by the
team members - which projected to audiences and judges alike! It is
always easy to spot a band whose members are at loggerheads with one
another. It not only makes for bad Jazz, but it looks very
unprofessional too. No such problems ever emerged with Etch's Quads;
they were a happy bunch, they treated Jazz as fun.
John and I last played with Derek, with him on double-bass, in a
band that backed the late George Melly, at the Deanwater Jazz Club,
in Woodford, Cheshire, in the mid-1970s. The pick-up band included
Derek (double-bass), Eric Stafford (piano), John Stavordale drums),
the late Randy Colville (clarinet, alto and soprano saxes), the late
Ken Wray, a trumpet player/leader (name???) and myself
(alto/tenor saxes, clarinet, flute and bass clarinet). Ken, who died
in 1977, and who had predated Derek Poole on the local scene, was
another pioneer of the 1940s local Revival, who started with The
Delta Rhythm Kings (c. 1945), and who was now back on his slide-
trombone, having been a brilliant Modern Jazz valve trombonist with
Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, John Dankworth, Ted Heath, Vic Lewis and
others. We must not forget the principal guest, of course, the
excellent and eccentric George Melly himself. That was an ill- fated
night on which George was robbed of some of his records, while the
door people weren't looking. George had hoped to sell copies, but
lost no time in asking the band to make up the difference. The band
left without pay that night.
It is also sad to reflect on the fact that many of Derek's and
John's former close friends and fellow musicians have already passed
away too. More lately, John played sometimes with both the Don Long
Quintet and Alan Yates's Dixieland Hotshots, on two separate evening
sessions, once-a-month, at the Chorlton Conservative Club
(Chorlton-cum-Hardy). This was after the Millennium, at a time when
I played with both bands once-a-fortnight. The very last time I
played with John, was in Alan's band, at The Harvester, Abersoch,
possibly around 2005 or 2006. I must not forget Noel Broadgate, who
was John's life-long friend and band-colleague, and of course,
George Galway, closely associated with John for decades and until
recently.
Let us now move away from Jazz and reflect on John's personal life.
His connection with music, as such, is accidental and apparently
hereditary. He had a very interesting musical ancestry. There was
something else. On the one hand, going back to the 1770s, it was
said that there had been some connection with Lord and Lady
Stavordale. They must have had "lolly" to burn, since Lord
Stavordale, a consummate gambler, in a single night managed to lose
£11,000. It later emerged that John's grandfather - an entertainer
"Miles Stavordale" appropriated the above surname for his Vaudeville
act, explained below. The real Stavordales took him to court for
that. Nevertheless, John's general manner and carriage suggested
that his background was aristocratic. As I said earlier, I first
knew him between the late 1960s and the 70s, because we coincided on
many gigs, not necessarily all Jazz. Brenda confirmed that he had
arrived in our midst in the 60s.
Aristocratic by birth, or not, John's "Stavordale" ancestry is to be
found - appropriately - in entertainment: in fact, Vaudeville,
between the mid-late 1800s and the early 1900s. A much later
"Stavordale" involvement is Puppetry and with the much more modern "Marionation",
using electrical and electronic gadgetry, possibly around thirty
years ago. First of all: Vaudeville. There were several members of
the family who were classical musicians of a very high calibre. Some
appeared as circus acts, others rose to be theatre and music-hall
performers. The most prominent of these, which caused the
'surname-theft' court-case seems to have been THE MILES STAVORDALE
QUINTETTE. Headed by Miles EMES-THOMAS, John's grandfather's
ensemble, their stringed instruments said to impersonate the human
voice, was . exceptional for the period. It had star-billing in the
USA (1905, at Poll's "Wonderland", Newhaven, Connecticut); Australia
(1906-1908 - Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, Opera House, Melbourne and
Palace Gardens, Perth; New Zealand (1916, Theatre Royal,
Christchurch - see poster); They possibly toured many more
countries, including Britain, where they appeared at the Hippodrome,
Bristol, at least for one week (19-24 June, 1916). Their heyday
occurred between the late 1800s and
1918. So this would appear to be how John got hooked on music, and
it explains his distinctive dignified stage presence. John only
imparted this sort of information in the last two or three years of
his life. I mislaid what he gave me, but remembering some details, I
thankfully, found most of it on the Internet only a few hours ago.
So, from one type of strings we go to another. The later Stavordale
dynasty includes some puppeteers. The only ones who I managed to
track down, are Cyril ("Buster") and Madge Stavordale. They made the
"big-time" on TV, possibly at the time of "Thunderbirds". In fact,
their puppets very much resemble those that appeared in that type of
production and that period - at least those I discovered on the
Internet do.
As we all look forward to celebrating John's interesting life and
times on Tuesday, it now only remains for me to repeat my sincerest
condolences to Brenda, Julia, Louise, Karen, Mandy, Andrew and their
remaining family members, and friends, for and on behalf of all of
us on the Manchester Jazz scene and to say that John will be missed
by a great many friends and colleagues too.
Joe Silmon-Monerri
06/03/12
26/02/12 -
Sad to report that my friend, drummer John Stavordale, passed away
last night. John had not been well for some time, and will be sadly
missed. Our condolences to Brenda and to all the family. -
Noel
Broadgate.
27/02/12 -
Passing of Arthur Pedder
and John Stavordale. These unexpected news items are very sad more
so because both fellows were great jazzmen and lovely men too. I
always enjoyed their company and playing whenever it happened. -
Mart Rodger
29/02/12 -
I'm so very sorry to hear Noel Broadgate's news sad about John
Stavordale. He was a dear old friend of mine too, going back to the
1970s, as we frequently played together in bands around Stockport,
and especially occasionally at a big hotel in Offerton. Brenda and
John also used to come to support us when I had a band at the Warren
Bulkeley Jazz Cellar in Stockport. He was a very versatile and
tasteful drummer, with a fantastic sense of humour and a
treasure-chest of jokes to go with it. As usual, we were out of
touch for a good two years or so. It just shows how precious time
is; we always fail to take advantage of being in touch with close
friends and relatives while we can. All of a sudden, it's too late!
-
Joe Silmon
07/03/12
- The funeral went extremely well, with about 140 mourners
filling the Rowan Chapel to the door. The service was
semi-religious/half-Humanistic; very tastefully arranged. George
Galway allowed me to sit in with the band he put together for the
reception, consisting of Mike Burns (trumpet/vocals), George (tenor
sax, clarinet/vocals), me, Paul Medina (d/bass), Ian Wright (drums)
and Vinny Parker (piano). We played some of John Stavordale's
favourite Swing numbers. It was a real privilege to play with such
great local musicians. It was, all-in-all, the perfect send-off for
John. From the Manchester Jazz scene, Nigel Cretney, Derek Galloway
and his wife Trisha were there; so were John Tucker, Bill Carton,
and "Gordon" (who sat in on Paul Medina's bass), the drummer from
the BB Big-Band sat in on Ian Wright's kit. Andrew and Brenda
thanked everyone who attended and seemed more than pleased with the
outcome.
Joe Silmon
07/03/12 -
Hi Fred,
Many thanks
to all the musicians and friends who joined our family in
celebrating dad’s life at his funeral yesterday. It was great to see
so many faces and to hear dad’s music and some great live jazz.
Regards,
Andrew J Stavordale |
