Pye Nixa NJE 1027
Nixa Jazz Today Series
7” EP
Recorded 20/9/56

Tracks

Side 1
When You’re Smiling (Fisher)

Side 2
(a) Minor Chant (Lightfoot)
(b) Texas Moaner (Barnes)

Sleeve notes

New names, and enthusiastic protagonists are always welcome in the traditional jazz field, and one of the brightest prospects of recent times is the band leader of this E.P. – Terry Lightfoot.

Terry was born on May 21st, 1935, in Potters Bar, Middlesex. It was only five years ago that he first took up clarinet after being introduced to trad. jazz by a schoolmate.

Before he was 17 he had formed and was leading his own band, the Wood Green Stompers, then resident at the well-known Wood Green Jazz Club. The band includes musicians who have since become members of two of Britain’s leading traditional bands, trombonist Johnny Picard – mow with Humphrey Lyttleton, and Al Thomas – lately on piano with Sandy Brown.

Came September ’53, and Terry was called up for National Service with the R.A.F. With the exception of a solitary broadcast on the B.B.C. “Forces Show” (in which he appeared in company with Eddie Calvert and Eric Delaney) it was not until the last nine months of his service that the opportunity for regular playing presented itself, this time as guest clarinetist with the Joe Brickwell Jazzmen of Bath, where Terry was stationed at the time.

The present Terry Lightfoot Jazzmen were formed in September, 1955, and in this very short space of time have built an enviable reputation in the trad. world. They have, to date, played every important jazz venue in the London area – concerts as well as clubs, and these engagements have enabled the band to appear, with consistent and ever growing success, before many thousands of enthusiasts.

This E.P. faithfully captures the rhythmic drive and fiery ensemble which characterise the Jazzmen’s performances. When You’re Smiling is, in fact, their full length concert version of this famous standard tune. Texas Moaner goes back to the early ‘twenties and the famed Clarence Williams recording of 1924. Minor Chant, a Lightfoot original, features the leader’s wailing clarinet against an atmospheric rhythmic background. All-in-all a first class showcase for a first class and exciting young orchestra.

Personnel

Terry Lightfoot (clarinet)
Colin Smith (trumpet)
John Bennett (trombone)
Al Wilcox (banjo)
Bill Reid (bass)
John Richardson (drums)

Sleeve:
Ian Bradbery (design)
Walter Hanlon (photography)

Recording:
Eric Tomlinson (balance)
Denis Preston (supervision)

MEDIA/MENTIONS

Off the Record
Liverpool Echo 5/1/57
“Among my record purchases over the holidays,” writes Reader M. Bird of Crosby, “was a Nixa E.P. by Terry Lightfoot’s Jazzmen featuring ‘Texas Moaner’ and ‘When You’re Smiling’.
He expresses surprise at the high quality of Lightfoot’s playing considering the recent foundation of the unit and the fact that most of the Jazzmen are comparatively young. “The disturbing factor,” he concludes, “is that the don’t seem to be well-known on Merseyside, although to me they are among Britain’s foremost bands.”
Since receiving the letter I’ve made one or two inquiries and have discovered that the E.P. is selling extremely well now in this area – so other fans have realised what good jazz the Lightfoot Band is turning in.
Disker