JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
George Chisholm (1915-97), who was born in Glasgow, Scotland and by 1936 was based in London, was a major trombonist. In fact, he could be considered one of Europe’s top jazz musicians of the 1930 and ’40s and he continued playing into the 1990s. During a period when many of the United Kingdom’s jazz soloists based their styles closely on American pacesetters, Chisholm had his own voice on his instrument by the time he was 20.
Although inspired by Jack Teagarden a bit, Chisholm always sounded very much like himself and he was noticed soon after arriving in London. Very soon he was touring Holland with Benny Carter, recording with Fats Waller, and working regularly as a member of Ambrose’s orchestra. He spent the 1940s in the Royal Air Force where he was a major part of the RAF Dance Orchestra (known as the Squadronaires), one of Great Britain’s top big bands. He worked in later years in the studios, on television (including doing comedy), and with a variety of Dixieland and swing groups in addition to leading his own bands.
The two-CD set The Gentleman Of Jazz, compiled by Digby Fairweather in his Retrospective series, has 48 selections that feature Chisholm during the 1937-62 period. Other than two numbers from 1935 which are not included (one of those actually has Chisholm playing celeste), this release begins with a selection from the tromboni
