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| Sax maestro and jazz giant |
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Harry, left, with American bandleader Turk Murphy in 1981
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THE world of jazz paid tribute this week to legendary bandleader
Harry Gold, who has died aged 98.
A popular figure of the post-war Dixieland revival and still touring
well into his 90s, he lived for more than 30 years in Theobalds
Road, Clerkenwell, before settling in Foxham Road, Tufnell Park.
He was born Harry Goldberg in 1907 to a Romanian mother and German
father. His parents grew up in the East End, themselves children
of Romanian immigrants who had fled Russian pogroms in eastern
Europe.
However, Harry was born in Dundrum, County Dublin, the eldest
of six children when his parents decided to leacve East London
for a new life: but the family soon returned to live in Leystonstone.
Harry’s life as a musician was influenced by the head teacher
of the Berners Street School he attended: the teacher was more
interested in whether his pupils could sing well, rather than
any academic prowess.
He was also influenced at home. His father , a tailor by trade,
loved music, and would sing the popular music hall numbers of
the time.
After leaving school at 14 Harry went to work in the family business
- despite gaining a place at the Whitechapel Foundation, a grammar
school. His parents could not afford to send him there.
And Harry leaving school had an unforeseen effect: it meant he
had the money to go to the Lewin Brothers instrument shop in Cambridge
Circus to pick out a saxophone.
According to his autobiography, he discovered the music he was
to make a career out of when he heard the Original Dixieland Jazz
Band play in Hammersmith in 1919.
“The effect was electric,” he wrote.
“Then and there I resolved to be a musician.”
A cousin introduced him to Louis Kimmel, a professor at the London
College of Music. Kimmell became Harry’s mentor and gave
him a grounding in the clarinet, the oboe and keyboard.
But his ability as a saxophonist was recognised by Kimmel and
he was persuaded to take the intrument up by his teacher - and
was inspired when he saw a gig by American bass saxophonist Adrian
Rollini.
Harry was soon proficient enough to work as a musician - his first
gig was at the Poplar Hippodrome in 1921 - and he soon formed
his own band, Pieces of Eight.
It was performing at venues like the Cafe de Paris, where the
regulars included royalty, that underlined his socialist priniciples.
He was aware of the wealth of his audience - and the poverty of
those providing the entertainment.
He gigged continuosly - “have sax, will travel”, he
would say - and in 1998, aged 91, he played in California, Connecticut,
and New York and at the Cork festival.
Kentish Town-based jazz expert and founder of the Crouch End All
Stars Graham Tayar played with Harry at the 100 Club in Oxford
Street. He said: “Meeting him was like touching jazz history.
He was a great and important figure – a pillar for British
dance orchestras for nearly 80 years.”
Dartmouth Park-based clarinettist Wally Fawkes added: “Humphrey
Lyttleton recently played a recording of his, Poor Butterfly,
on BBC Radio’s Best of Jazz and it was one of the most beautiful
things I’d ever heard.”
He is survived by sons Morton, Leslie, Andrew and David.
PETER GRUNER
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Angelino's finest are put to the test
WE came across Angelino Wines, sandwiched between two colourful and
aggressively self-promoting Australian wine sellers, at Islington’s
London Wine Event at the end of October.
Its owner is Farrell Anglin, whose imagination was caught by a lecture
on the history of wine making at Southgate College.
FULL STORY
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