From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu May 22, 2003  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Kenny Ball
 
KENNY BALL

Born Kenneth Daniel Ball, 22 May 1931 (some sources say 1930),
Ilford, Essex, England

Trumpet player / bandleader / vocalist.
One aspect of the Shakin' years that hardly has been covered on the
list so far is the "trad" (traditional jazz) phenomenon, which was quite
big for a while in the early sixties, not only in the UK, but also in Holland, 
Germany and the Scandinavian countries. 

During the skiffle era many British musicians were influenced by New
Orleans styled jazz. By the end of the 50s every club in London had a
jazz night. From this scene many jazz players who had started years
before were brought into the spotlight, none more so than Kenny Ball.
He was to become the most consistent hit maker during this period,
securing 14 hit singles between 1961 and 1967, a mix of vocals and
instrumentals.

Kenny was keen on jazz from an early age, hearing many standard New
Orleans favourites on the wartime radio. He started his musical career
with a semi-professional outfit, Charlie Galbraith's All Star Jazz Band
in 1951. By 1958 he had formed his own band, Kenny Ball and his 
Jazzmen. They played Dixieland jazz, but with a slight contemporary feel.
During an audition for a TV show they were heard by Lonnie Donegan and
on his recommendation they were signed to Pye Records.

They went on long tours of Europe, building up a sizeable fanbase and 
spreading the sounds of jazz to a massive audience. The band had its 
first hit in early 1961, with "Samantha" (from the 1956 film "High Society"),
which reached # 13 in the UK. At the end of 1961, Ball had his biggest
hit (# 2) with "Midnight In Moscow", an old Russian folk song. Not many
people know that Ball stole both the arrangement and the English title
from a Dutch record by the New Orleans Syncopators (1960). "Midnight
In Moscow" was also released in the USA, on the Kapp label, and went 
to # 2 there as well in 1962, selling over a million copies. It was one of
three big pre-Beatles UK hits in the US that year, all instrumental, the
other two (both chart toppers) being "Stranger On The Shore" by Mr. Acker
Bilk (another leading exponent of the trad movement) and "Telstar" by the
Tornados. 

Other Top 10 hits (UK) for Ball were "March Of the Siamese Children" and
"Green Leaves Of Summer", both from 1962. His last chart entry was a 
cover of "When I'm 64" (1967). In 1963 he was the first British jazzman
to be honoured with citizenship of New Orleans. Despite the fall away in
jazz's popularity after the Beatles broke through, Kenny remained a popular
figure on TV. He toured Russia in the eighties and was still pleasing the
crowds in the 90s.

Official website: http://www.kennyball.com
Compilation: Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen (2 CD-set, 50 tracks, Pye, 2001).