Sheila Collier
Portrait of a musician
Reproduced by kind permission of Sheila Collier and Just Jazz Magazine

PART V - The Lakes - and a surprise ending!
(Click here for Part l)

The Lakes

After the sad demise of Hayfield Jazz Festival in 1990, followed by the breakdown of my marriage to John Johnson, I thought my jazz days were well and truly over. Turning back to my art, I attended a year's refresher course in fine art painting at Stockport College, and for my final show I made a visual story of my long obsession with the 'Empress of the Blues; Bessie Smith, and gave the show the title 'coin' down the road to see Bessie'.

To explain this I need to go back to 1985 when I recorded my album, 'A Tribute to Bessie Smith:  The idea for this recording came out of a performance that the great pianist and poet Roy Fisher made for Buxton Jazz Festival in 1984. We also took the show to Breda Oude Still Jazz Festival in 1985. Bessie Smith, in her short life, had a huge repertoire, and I wanted to sing some of her lesser-known songs as well as the favourites.

In March, 1985, the show became an album. Recorded at Strawberry Studios, Cheshire (the home of the rock band 10cc), besides Roy and myself the musicians were the newly-formed band, Mart Rodger Manchester Jazz: Mart Rodger (clarinet, leader), Alan Dent (trumpet), Eric Brierley (trombone), Joe Palin (piano), Tim Roberts (aka Bob Ascough, banjo), Pete Staples (drums), and Colin Smith (bass).

Nine years later - in 1994 - this album was acquired by GHB records of New Orleans, and with the addition of five extra songs, it was made into a CD, GHB: BCD339.

My old friend Barry Martyn arranged the contact with George Buck, and in March, 1994, I recorded five songs for the CD. The musicians on this recording, in a studio in Macclesfield, Cheshire, were: Frank Brooker (alto and tenor saxes), Clive Yeadon (piano), Brian Herbert (guitar), Nigel Cretney (drums), and Dave Turner (bass).

The only song not recorded by Bessie Smith was actually called Bessie Smith and was written by Robbie Robinson of The Band (Bob Dylan's band), and the first line goes - 'Goin' down the road to see Bessie - ...when I get there I'm wondrin' what I'll do:

What I did do was to move - up to the northern Lake District, near Keswick! On an impulse I bought a derelict mill cottage and became a house renovator and restorer.

Of course, Keswick Jazz Festival influenced my choice, having sung at the fist one in 1991 with my band Swinghouse, which at that time featured Derek Winters on trumpet and 'Sir' Granville Edwards on sax - a great West Indian player with a raw sound.

On my own for the first time, except for my two beautiful dogs, Bessie, the border collie, and Jessie, the Jack Russell 'mix; I began a completely new life in a beautiful part of England.

With the Millennium looming, I decided to realise my ambition of recording an album of Gospel songs and Spirituals for the GHB label. While driving alone down to Cornwall to sing at the Bude Jazz Festival with the Ben Cohen Band (a 'Louis and Bessie' show), I stopped off at Tewkesbury Abbey for a break. Inside the abbey I picked up a prayer card with an inspirational verse printed on it:

This little verse became my inspiration for the album, for how I feel about life - be it singing, painting, writing, just being...) called the album 'A Hallelujah Chorus' and sang the verse to the tune of What A Friend We Have In Jesus on the final track. The musicians on this gospel album were: Frank Brooker, (clarinet, saxes), Terry Brunt (trombone), Roger Browne (piano, Hammond organ), Brian Herbert (guitar), Dave Turner (bass), and Rod MacNamara (drums).

'Sheila Collier sings Gospel - A Hallelujah Chorus' was issued on the GHB label in 1999. I went down to New Orleans to sort out the sleeve with Barry Martyn and George Buck in 1998. Back to the roots! Lovely. We performed this gospel album at the Brecon Jazz festival in August, 1999, and on-stage at the newly-built Theatre by the Lake in Keswick in 2000.

Before I enter the new century and the last ten years of my story, I'm skipping back to 1984 and 1990, to the times I was invited to represent England at the Dresden International Dixieland Festival. Both visits were a life-changing experience for me. On the first visit, in 1985, I took the Red River Jazzmen and the great Danny Moss. There is a recording of us on the festival album 1894-85 of, "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing", with the most fantastic solo from Danny. The musicians were: Tony Iddon (clarinet, leader), Doug Whaley (trumpet), Danny Moss (tenor sax), Eric Brierley (trombone), Joe Palin (piano), Pete Mooney (bass), and Pete Staples (drums).

It was an amazing visit of contrasts. Armed guards at the airport, special passes, and interrogation to get into the country; one State-run hotel for all, no shops, no restaurants, no colour. Then - amazing concerts at the Culture Palace, packed with 8,000 people, full of wild enthusiasm. We were closeted away for hours before the concert in the bowels of the Culture Palace, and then taken back to our hotel the same way.

I was very touched to receive notes backstage asking me to write out the lyrics of some jazz songs, and on-stage when a man in the audience presented me with a red rose which he had probably had to queue for during the day. On the final day there was a parade through the city in wagons and cars where we were treated like football heroes coming back from a championship win! We were paid in East German marks, which were worthless outside the DDR. I bought a blue and white tea set; others bought binoculars and cameras.

In the spring of 1990 I went again. Then, you could see that the regime was crumbling. People were openly critical of the government, and of course in October, 1990, the Berlin Wall was breached, and it all came to an end. Musicians in 1990 included Tony Iddon (clarinet, leader), Terry Brunt (trombone), Clive Yeadon (piano), John Johnson (bass), and Peter Cotterill (drums).

This year (2010) I went to the Dresden Festival again. Lasse Karlsson was playing with the Danish band The Spirit of New Orleans. The changes in the city were heart-warming and enormous. Where once there was rubble and an eternal flame there is the magnificently restored Maria Kirk, and all around the city has been lovingly restored to its baroque splendour. It was nice to see Max Collie and Jim McIntosh there too - and fantastic shops!

PART Vl - 2010-2011