Stan Tracey (1926–2013)
Pianist, composer and bandleader Stanley William Tracey was born in London. He began playing accordion before taking up piano aged 13 and was largely self-taught, working professionally from age 16.
During the 1950s he played with the groups of Eddie Thompson, Laurie Morgan, Kenny Baker, Vic Ash and Carl Barriteau, among others, before joining Ted Heath’s orchestra in 1957 as pianist, vibraphonist and arranger. From 1960 he was house pianist at Ronnie Scott’s Club, leading his own trio there for most of the decade and accompanying many American jazz stars, including Ben Webster and Sonny Rollins.
From the 1960s the uniqueness of Tracey’s piano style, transcending the strong influences of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington, was more clearly recognised, as was his excellence as a jazz composer. In 1965 his quartet, including saxophonist Bobby Wellins, recorded Tracey’s suite inspired by Dylan Thomas’ play Under Milk Wood. The album was soon recognised as one of the most important achievements of British modern jazz. Thereafter Tracey wrote and recorded many suites and other compositions. In the 1970s he played and recorded with innovative contemporary stylists such as altoist Mike Osborne and pianist Keith Tippett.
Throughout the rest of his career he distilled his instantly recognisable piano style, remained a prolific composer and led groups of various sizes. He gradually became universally recognised as one of the most distinctive, dedicated and inventive jazz musicians that Britain has produced.
Biography by Roger Cotterrell
A British legend
Les Tomkins wrote this career profile of Stan Tracey, emphasising the variety of his contributions to jazz and the growing recognition he was receiving for them.
Stan Tracey: Interview 1
Image Details
| Interview date | 1st January 0001 |
|---|---|
| Interview source | Jazz Professional |
| Image source credit | |
| Image source URL | |
| Reference number | |
| Forename | Stan |
| Surname | Tracey |
| Quantity | 1 |
Interview Transcription
Stan Tracey is a very good pianist and musician. He’s got a lot on the ball. It’d be nice if he could go to the States for a while and get that kind of different environment. It would do a lot for him - bring him out more. Dexter Gordon
… As for the great Stan Tracey, he fits into the Al/Zoot format as if he were the third member of a long-standing association. Comping and soloing he was obviously experiencing, and communicating, complete enjoyment. Bob Adams
Internationally renowned jazz pianist, composer and arranger Stan Tracey is generally regarded nowadays as one of Britain’s greatest living jazz musicians. His career spans forty-four years, and stretches back to the formative days of modem jazz in this country.
Born in London in 1926, he was a totally self-taught professional by the age of sixteen. Stan first came to notice during the fifties when he worked with many top-name bands. Most famous of these was the now legendary Ted Heath Orchestra where he spent two years as a pianist, vibraphonist and arranger.
In 1960 he began a seven-year stint as resident pianist at Ronnie Scott’s Club, playing with almost every visiting US musician, including Ben Webster, Roland Kirk, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins, who asked: “Does anybody here know how good this guy really is?” During that period Stan formed his own Quartet and Big Band, and in 1965 he reached a wide audience with his “Under Milk Wood,” lyrical settings to Dylan Thomas’ play for voices. The following year he produced another literary-inspired work, “Alice In Jazzland”.
Equally strong in solo context, as one half of a duo, leader of his own Quartet or larger combinations Sextet, Octet and Big Band Stan brands each with his own distinctive personality while simultaneously spurring other musicians to new heights of excellence.
His originality has been recognised with fourteen commissions, most recently Genesis, a work written for his fifteen piece orchestra. Altogether Stan has made thirty-eight records, many of which are still available most of them under his own name and featuring his own compositions. He was the subject of a BBC 2 Omnibus programme, which devoted an hour to documenting Stan’s rise to the status of Britain’s most respected jazz musician.
As well as touring throughout Britain and Europe, Stan has taken the Quartet on highly successful tours of Greece, Yugoslavia, the Middle East and South America, sponsored by the British Council. He has played at more than thirty British jazz festivals and guested at twenty-five abroad in such exotic locations as Bombay, Algiers, Belgrade, Cannes, Zurich, Hamburg and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
Stan’s unswerving commitment to jazz is further demonstrated by his interest in jazz education, and he has taught at the Guildhall School of Music, Goldsmith’s College and the City Literary Institute.
Stan’s popularity is legendary. Concerts to celebrate his careers 30th and 40th anniversaries at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall were sell-outs, and he has won several Melody Maker polls as pianist, composer and arranger. In 1985 he was voted International Musician of the Year by Jazz Journal International readers, and received the Schlitz Award of 1986 for composition. Official recognition has come too in the form of the BASCA Award for services to the British Music Industry and honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music: it says something about Stan’ s unique talent that he is the only jazz musician (not to mention the only self-taught one) to have been awarded this coveted accolade. He was also awarded the O.B.E. in December 1986.
But music speaks louder than words, and the sheer professionalism and artistry of this brilliant modem jazz giant remain an unforgettable memory for all those lucky enough to have heard him. Stan Tracey is living proof of the fact that jazz is an international language, and that true genius knows no boundaries.
