Rushden Research Group: Jazz Book 2019

TheReporter@rosettapublishing.com

The lost history of Jazz in Northamptonshire

A HISTORY of jazz in Northamptonshire from 1947 to 1972 has recently come to light after being hidden for 46 years. It was written in 1973 by Mr Eric Barrett, a past Mayor and businessman of Higham Ferrers. Eric was also a good musician, playing the trumpet and undoubtedly quite a 'jazz fanatic' in the heydays playing with the Jack Lantsbery Band at the Green Dragon in Higham Ferrers. Sadly Eric died in 1978 at the very young age of 48 years.

The history covers over 20 jazz venues in Northamptonshire, has the names and members of all the bands plus Eric's many thoughts about the jazz scene and how to make a living from jazz.

The original copy, typed in what is now faded blue ink and well 'off-white' paper must have taken many hours to type without today's computers, emails and word processing. It remained with Eric's widow Jane until some five years ago and then given to Richard Perkins at his Higham garage who in turn gave it to Richard Lewis who he thought would "do something with it!"

With the help of many people and in particular Kay Collins of the Rushden History Society, the old pages were scanned, and reformatted by Richard Lewis with the near same page layouts as written by Eric. The result is a 100 page A4 size soft cover book including over 120 pictures and press cuttings. Extra pages have been added detailing the book's eventual route to publication, plus a brief biography and pictures of Eric.

Jazz clubs in the whole county are covered in the book. An overview, the venues, bibliography, and conclusion. A list of county jazz players of the time is at the back of this book.

Eric Barrett in 1969

Extracts of local interest by kind permission
Rushden	Higham Ferrers	Bozeat & Wollaston

Eric Barrett played regularly with these three bands.

The Ray Ericson, 1956
Eric Barrett	Trumpet	Played at the Victoria, Wellingborough. Attempts made to get away from standard tunes. The band was not together long enough to establish a following.
Ron Radford	Trombone
Roy Hare	Clarinet
Barry Blackwell	Bass
Al Crisp	Drums
Eric Lindsell	Banjo

The Jack Lantsbery Jazzmen, 1952
Jack Lantstbery	Trombone	Mostly trad, but Ellington and Mainstream numbers made up the programme. Tunes such as Revival by Joe Harriott, or The Martinique, were popular. Outstanding personality and musicianship of Lantsbery was the bands foremost feature.
Eric Barrett	Trumpet
Dave Johnson	Clarinet
Jim Hill	Bass
Eric Lindsell	Banjo
Dave Earle	Drums

The County Jazzband, 1970
E. Barrett	Cornet	Made up of stalwarts from earlier bands. Plays a mixture of mainstream and traditional jazz. Monthly at Northampton’s Five Bells and Skew Bridge Ski Club.
J.Lantsbery or J. Pressly	Trombone
John Hale	Clarinet
Gil Scott	Bass
E. Lindsell	Banjo
J. Chapman	Piano

Squires, Spires and All that Jazz, by E H Barrett 1973

"Jazz" someone once said "is where you find it". The object of this study is to find it, trace its history and development and to present to the reader that most recent innovation, comparatively speaking, the Jazz Pub.

In Conclusion [part only]

Northamptonshire is rich in churches, country houses and pretty villages, but it cannot be said that the county is rich in impressive public houses. Certainly pubs abound but generally they are not the type which would feature in a county guide book, or which have a fascinating historical aspect similar to those to be found for example in Nottinghamshire.

Northamptonshire's pubs, however, have been the 'man in the street's' prime source of relaxation since the days of the Industrial Revolution, and indeed before.

It is not the object here to look at the history of the pubs mentioned in the previous chapters. Few date back for more than one hundred years, the Green Dragon, at Higham Ferrers being a notable exception. All of them however, new or old, have this common denominator of serving a need or of being a centre for a group activity. Man does not visit a pub just to drink; beer and spirits can be consumed in his own home. Man is by nature a 'herd' animal and it is this instinct which compels the average man to gather with his fellows and take part in some mutual interest. Obviously limited by the size of available rooms, these interests are usually of a minority appeal, Pigeon fancying, Skittles playing, darts matches and the like. Evidence of the Lodges of the Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes is present in many of Northamptonshire’s public houses. Rotarians, Traders, Wine makers, photographers, all make use of their particular favourite public house.

It is small wonder that the jazz musicians of Northamptonshire decided to take their music into the pubs rather than the village hall or the theatre stage. Here were 'club' rooms tailored to the correct dimensions, with, in some cases, the nucleus of a ready-made audience waiting to see what prospects of entertainment this comparatively new idea would provide, is mentioned in the opening chapter, jazz, anywhere else in the world other than Britain is an expensive commodity, and now the opportunity presented itself to listen and presumably enjoy jazz for the price of a pint.

Bands & Music