In November 1959, the first all night jazz event was held at the Grosvenor Ballroom, Aylesbury. Such events were nothing new to the jazz scene – they had been going on in London for many years – but this was definitely something new for Aylesbury. The Bucks Advertiser reported on November 6, 1959: The first […]
Trad jazz
1959 Aylesbury Jazz Club
On 13th January 1959, the Chris Barber Jazz Band played at the gala opening night of the Aylesbury Jazz Club at the Grosvenor Ballroom. The formation of the new jazz club was the idea of Eddie Friday, manager of the Grosvenor, and Ron Lesley, who had run the Harringay Jazz Club, Ron and his wife […]
Jazz: The early 1950s
In 1952 we find a reference to the Modern Music Club at the National Service Hostel in Bicester Road. An article in the Bucks Herald dated 3rd October 1952 reported on “the first jazz club session to be held in Aylesbury for two years” since the Aylesbury Jazz Club was disbanded. Mentioned as one of […]
1957: Trad jazz comes to the Grosvenor
On 4 September 1957, the Buckinghamshire Traditional Jazz Club held its opening night at the Grosvenor Ballroom. The artist was Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. The Bucks Herald covered the opening on its front page on September 13, 1957. The organiser was Barrington Saunders, an ex-servieman from Ilford, who told the Herald: When I was […]