Wed 21 November Frank Brooker – sax and clarinet 6-7pm
Veteran Leeds jazz sax and clarinet player Frank Brooker was originally from Portsmouth (as he jokingly says, on the south coast of Yorkshire!). He first began playing jazz in 1959 with a trad band in Surrey, then following year joined student band at Bristol University mostly playing New Orleans-styled jazz based on records by Kid Ory. In the 1960’s he was based in London where he joined the Green Leaf Band, led by trumpeter Barry Johnson, from 1963-1966 as well as Alvin Alcorn and Eagle Brass Band and Harold Dejan’s Young Olympia Brass Band with Sammy Rimmington and John Chilton’s Swing Kings. He played in many different styles with different bands – New Orleans, Dixieland, Swing. He appeared on BBC ‘Jazz Club’ broadcasts with Barry Martyn’s band, with Keith Smith. In 1966 he worked with “Chris Barber’s Brass Band plays The Beatles” produced by Terry Henebery. He left London in 1974 and moved to South Yorkshire where he played for seventeen years with Dave Brennan Jazz Band and worked extensively in Europe and the old Soviet Union.
His main instrument is now tenor sax. With his band “The Happy Chappies” and with Kid Boyd’s Jazzmen he has featured at UK festivals in Bude, Keswick, Grimsby and Edinburgh.
He’s appearing at Rush Hour Jazz with the JazzLeeds trio – Will Powell guitar Steve Crocker bass and Dom Moore drums.
