CONCERT JAZZ
Events -
Chiltern Hundreds Area
|
CONCERT JAZZ
Events - |
|
|
Diz Disley - Stephane & Django's Renaissance Man Sadly Diz Disley Passed away on Monday 22nd March 2010 but you don't have to believe it if you don't want to. Think of it as a Reunion with the Master -
His funeral will be held on
Wednesday, 7th April at 3pm at The West Chapel,
DizAid
Concert I knew that
he'd been ill for some time. It would be nice to invite eulogies on the website.
So many were affected by him. I was 12 when I first met Diz. It was the early 1950s and my father, Tom Cundall, was co-editing Jazz Journal with Sinclair Trail. This was an early example for me of why not to get involved in Jazz as it involved trips to a pawnbroker’s in Kilburn High Road to raise the money to pay the printers bill. Diz stayed at our home a few times, doing artworks for Jazz Journal. He also had a guitar and a trumpet and I had a ukulele. He taught me a couple of what might just about have been approximations of chords and so I had the rare honour of backing Diz while he was on trumpet and I was still in short trousers - until my father said we were upsetting the landlady, a hanging offence at the time. Diz always seemed larger than life to me, clearly enormously talented, always cheerful – although I have never forgotten one horror story he told me from his time in the army in Trieste. I last saw him about 15 years ago, playing with Digby Fairweather at the Pizza Express in Dean St. He instantly called up memories from when he used to stay with us and told me he now had some land in Almeira which he hoped to get permission to turn into a golf course. So I was very surprised to learn he was broke when he died. - Peter Cundall What a fellow Diz was. I used to run Folk Ckubs in the sixties and early 70s around Northampton. One time I remember him turning up in a Rolls Royce which did not have a steering wheel but some sort of joy stick to steer it by. He enjoyed giving me a ride and showing it off. He is the only person who ever asked me if I took any money for myself form the folk club admission charge. When I told him no he gave me a couple of quid. He would get paid about £10 for his guest spot. Mind you I was earning about £12 a week as a teacher. On a couple of occasions with his £10 fee he took himself, me and 2 others for an Indian meal and still had change. He was one of life's greats and I'm sorry now I did not keep in touch when I stopped running clubs. Wilfrid Feely
Diz
Disley was born in
Winnipeg,
Manitoba,
Canada
but was brought up in
Wales
and Northern
England.
In his childhood, he learnt to play the
banjo,
but took up the jazz guitar at the age of 14, after hearing the playing of
Django Reinhardt.
Diz studied art in Leeds and it was a good time for music at the Leeds
College of Art. There was Diz, Alan Cooper who later formed the Temperance
7, & from quite a different scene a lad called Frank Abelson who later
became Frankie Vaughn. Diz played banjo in the college band - the Vernon
Street ramblers - when he was asked to join the slightly more prestigious
Yorkshire Jazz band, which brought him to London & the Mick Mulligan/George
Melly rave-ups.
In those days the band was playing for £4.50 a week. But they didn't even consider the money, it was a pleasure to be playing Jazz in London. Melody Maker voted Diz Jazz Guitarist of the Year for a number of years. Diz has played with & continues to play with some of the great names in Jazz - Big Bill Broonzy, Louis Armstrong, Ken Colyer, Sandy Brown, Cy Laurie, Kenny Ball & Alex Welsh among others. Diz led his own quintet at the BBC & compered various folk & jazz programmes for years.
Musical Career Highlights.
Diz Attends a Local Gypsy Jazz Gig:-
If any one wishes to add to this assembly of information i would be glad to expand it ....Jazz Eddie
Diz Today!
Additions to the Appraisal. ENCOUNTERS
Diz is still with us, and I make a point of checking up on him every week. I
have known Diz since the fifties, and shared a pad with him for a short time in
the 60's whole we were both doing the folk scene.
I met Diz about 40 years ago in Stafford where he
used to visit sometimes at the height of the folk club era. He would
entertain us with humorous ditties and sometimes we would have a meal in
the local Chinese restaurant. It was at one of these meals that he had
us all in stitches ,relating his hilarious exploits on his way to
entertain the troops in Malaya I think it was. One day he turned up at
my mothers house ,where I lived and cadged some money for petrol . He
was off to a gig in Manchester when his Rolls Royce ran out of gas !
True to his word the small loan was repaid. On another occasion
he was on his way to Immingham with a load of disco equipment bound for
Sweden when his car broke down . The gear was stored in our garden shed
until he collected it some time later. I later heard the Swedish disco
venture ended rather ignominiously, but I'll leave the details to Diz!
There are other anecdotes about Diz I could relate but the person who knew him
best was Ron Winkle, local banjo player and vintage car restorer. Diz
commissioned Ron to paint his Rolls Royce yellow once I believe ! This was
typical of Diz who had a rather cavalier attitude to his own personal road
transport. I remember he had a large heavy saloon which would not go in reverse
so any trip had to be accompanied by helpers who pushed when required . Ron told
me that Diz parked this unwieldy vehicle in the Lord Mayors parking spot in
Birmingham once when attending a gig.I can only imagine the kerfuffle that
probably ensued ! An old friend of mine who is now in his early nineties and who's name is Norrie Greenwood claimed to know Diz Disley in his very early days. Norrie often recounted the story of how he was playing his guitar in his house in Settle, Ribblesdale when the postman rang the door bell and asked what kind of music Norrie was playing. Norrie went on to give the postman a few lessons but was soon outclassed by him. The postman turned out to be Diz. Norrie would tell this story to anybody who would listen and most of us in the local jazz scene took it with a pinch of salt. That was until all the local players including Norrie went to see Stephane G. with Disley at the Annersley Hotel in Lincoln. When Disley saw Norrie he was said to be over the moon and insisted that he went back stage to meet Stephane. I don't think Norrie, after shaking hands with Stephane, has washed his hand since! Nobody knows if the story was correct but Diz's reaction on seeing Norrie would lend some credence to the tale. - Best Wishes - Alan Davies - Lincoln I also know Norrie Greenwood and a few years ago met Diz Disley who was on his way to play a concert in Lancaster. He called in on Norrie at Hellifield, where Norrie was living at the time and played along with us .well I say along he was stunning .the evening is on a video the fiddle player's wife made.. He didn't tell me Diz was coming he just said there was a special friend coming to the practice session ...special indeed...Diz confirmed the postman story by the way....Doug Lawrence Hi, ref Diz Disley. I used to see him at the Surbiton (Surrey) folk club quite often. He would sing gently ribald songs and play a lovely old Maccaferri type guitar. He can't be that old now - why doesn't he ever perform? Anyway, he made me fall in love with that type of guitar and it's music. So I wish him many thanks. All the best Nick Weeks I'm back-tracking to 1964/65 when I was also part of the Surbiton folk club audience. At that stage Diz always included one or two George Formby impersonations in his folk club performances and this led to the production of an LP featuring George's songs. A number of recruits from the Surbiton audience attended the recording studio to provide choral backup and applause (myself included). Diz designed the record cover which featured a cartoon of George Formby sitting astride a huge stick of Blackpool rock, with the title "EEE, What a Whopper". The record was a tribute to George Formby who had died in 1961 - though the rather risque cover meant it wasn't a record for taking home to mother at that time! I recall Diz had great respect for the accomplishments of former generations, whether the subject be music, musicians, flying machines or cars. He heard about a 1926 Rolls Royce that someone was trying to sell. It wasn't going but he was excited at the prospect of working on it and I lent him the £15 needed to buy it. He got it going and I later had some rides - feeling very high and mighty, sitting way above mere mortals in the 1960s London traffic. Best wishes to the very able star of this show. - Linda Muldoon (in Canberra)
When I lived in Corby, I remember Diz Disley was booked to
play at the Nag's Head in the old village, having played there myself on a
few occasions, I asked him if I could sit in. Diz , at the time was doing
his solo folk club thing but called me on during the second set. I first met Diz in the late 60s/early 70s at a Bayswater pub called “The Redan” on the corner of Queensway and Westbourne Grove in London. I was playing jug band music and early 20s jazz with a loose collection of musicians called “The Egbert Souse All-Stars”. The pub landlord was an ex-muso called Johnny Watkins, and Diz was his tenant in the upstairs flat. Johnny had all kinds of jazz-based music going on – I recall Sunday lunchtime sessions with Frank and Laurie Denise, for example, and the “Egberts” played once a week. We weren’t particularly accomplished musicians, but we played with enthusiasm and gave a good performance for £2 each and a free beer! The band members would come – or not – as the mood took them and, one particularly sparse night, there were only 3 or 4 of us playing. Diz came downstairs for a pint, saw us struggling, and went upstairs for his Maccaferri. He jammed with us all night and turned it into a wonderful evening. When we’d finished, I asked if he would take a share of the kitty. He said “no”, he had a good gig the next evening. When asked where, he said “Carnegie Hall – with Stephane”. I last saw him when I was playing at a folk club in Arundel called “The Willows”. I turned up to watch. He saw me in the audience and asked me to come up and play “backing” guitar for him – which turned out as me taking as many solos as he did! He drove a huge hearse in those days, and wondered where he could fill up before going back to London. I’ve not heard of Diz for years –hope he’s OK - Mike Ainscough Hi - I served with him in Trieste in 1940 and was in touch till nearly 1950. Diz gave us all instruments - spoons, comb and paper, harmonicas, and wash boards. We ran Music sessions in the various Barrack rooms. - Lionel Morgan ex Sgt - Royal Signals
|
Send mail to
jazzmaster@jazzeddie.f2s.com
with questions or comments about the design only of this web site.
|
It
was while organising the Cambridge Folk Festivals in the early 70's that Diz
invited Stephane Grappelli to make an appearance. Steph had not played his
style of Jazz since Django died in 1953 - mainly because he couldn't find
reliable acoustic guitar players. The best guitar players to suit his style
of Violin Jazz were all gypsies - and reliability was a problem. It was for
that reason that Steph had stepped out of the limelight for almost 20 years,
before meeting with Diz. Stephane wanted a pianist to accompany him at the
Cambridge Folk Festival, but Diz couldn't get the piano across the field to
the stage, so he suggested that he & Denny Wright accompany the legendary
Stephane Grappelli. It was an outstanding success. When Diz formed the Diz
Disley Trio with Ike Isaacs, Steph was asked to lead the band on a short
tour. 
Took
Place on 20th
Oct 2007
After
leaving the English military service in the 1950's, William "Diz" Disley
enrolled in art school and became a skilled illustrator and painter,
eventually doing covers and cartoons for the weekly magazine Melody
Maker and the political journal The Spectator. 
