I'm wondering what happened to our good friend from way back, Johnny Kendall. John was manager of the secondhand record department of Doug Dobell's Music Shop in London's Charing Cross Road in the 50s, but always referred to himself as "the secondhand manager". The title seemed to match his well-worn hooded duffle coat with the baggy pockets - the unofficial uniform of all trad fans in those days.
He played trombone and my husband Terry played trumpet when they first met in the 'Marsh Street Stompers'. I recall the time I cleaned and polished up his old battered trombone for him. He was so delighted with it that he immediately varnished it and stood it on his bedroom windowsill to dry. Unfortunately his mother's curtains brushed against it in the breeze, and he acquired "the only chenille covered trombone in the world"! (post continued ......)
The Marsh Street Stompers - Terry Brown & John KendallJazz Me Blues Eddie Condon 1964 Music via Noolmusic.com
John was a fount of information about the jazz world; he made many trips to the US and brought back lots of LPs which we'd listen to intently, seated on the floor around his record player watching every revolution of the disc and lapping up every riff, lick and break coming from it. John would pre-empt certain phrases, excitedly pointing them out to us with an uplifted finger and a huge joyous beam breaking across his face. Every Christmas he'd proudly show us his greetings card received from Eddie Condon. He married Teresa, who photographed our wedding, and we lost touch when we left London for the sunnier climes of Australia.
Some small news has filtered through to us - that John had died and Teresa was now married to John Chilton and manages a bookshop in Charing Cross Rd. I recall a gig in Townsville in the 80's by George Melly and the John Chilton Feetwarmers when we went backstage to talk with George, - was it possible that Teresa had been with them on that tour?
Strange how certain music sparks memories like this, isn't it?
valsjazz
1 comment:
Thanks Jazzbird.
Love the layout and colours. Very informative and great to see forthcoming events.
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