PAUL
VERNON CHESTER
Manouche Maestro
|
Manouche Maestro |
|
Cedric West - Jazz Guitarist & Trombonist, 1918-?
Regarding Cedric West and Teddy Weatherford - I was a jazz
piano player in London in 1959, when Cedric was at a Night Club in
New Bond
Street (Fischers or the Embassy?) with Rudy Bernardo (drums) Ricky Fernandez
(bass) and myself (Stuart DeSilva, piano). Cedric also played a very fluent
trombone, styled on JJ Johnson. Cedric West went to England in 1947 and went on to become a respected session man, recording with Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones and Elmer Bernstein. He was a close friend of Joe Pass. He went on to hold down the guitar chair in the BBC Jazz Band and is described by Mike Edmonds as “a master bebop player and often played with his thumb like Wes”. Rangoon 1940 - LR Paul Ferraz sb, Reuben Solomon cl, Dean Wong vcl, Cedric West gtr (22yrs), Ike Isaacs gtr Cedric West Born 9-12-18 Rangoon, Burma
Aptly, many years later, Cedric West released an album
titled West Meets East  Cedric
West Guitar Ensemble - West Meets EastWest Meets East: Django: Five To Four On: Moonlight Tango: Bounce: The Midnight Sun Will Never Set JMurmurio: In The Mode: When Sonny Gets Blue: Kenitra: Spring Is Here: Alma Lianera. Columbia Q 33SX1617 (12 in). Review from the Gramophone One might be excused for thinking that the guitar in Britain has become the prerogative of hirsute and weirdly-clad teenagers. Here is a handy refutation by a reliable guitarist from Rangoon who has been resident in this country for some years. Cedric West has cropped up on many record dates during the past decade, usually with Bertie King or Kenny Baker, but this is the first time I have heard him solo at any length. The programme is varied and ranges from out-and-out jazz material such as The Midnight Sun Will Never Set (Quincy Jones), Django (John Lewis) and In the Mode (Bob Brookmeyer) to superficial performances such as Moonlight Tango in which the jazz content is slight. West is an excellent instrumentalist with an acute regard for melody; he runs his chords beautifully on the slow When Sonny Gets Blue and succeeds in establishing the right atmosphere from the very first bars of Django and Midnight Sun. He may not be the most original guitarist yet heard in Britain but he is certainly one of the most accomplished. Anyone satiated by the sound of the guitar badly played by the latest wonders of the Hit Parade is advised to hear this LP is only as a reassurance that the guitar is a musical instrument. Cedric is supported in thoroughly professional style throughout by Dick Abel, Laurie Wise and Len Argent (also on guitars), Ken O'Donnell (bass) and Ronnie Lord (drums). A.M
Cedric West, on Wes Montgomery. Cedric West Writes on The Man Who Does
The Impossible, ” Crescendo International, May (1965),
According to West these methods include
Cedric & Wes Images - Ike Isaacs - John Duarte Cedric's L-5c with DeArmond Pickup was used by Wes in discussion. Cedric sold the L-5c to Dave Shakespeare Cedric West was seen on UK TV on an almost daily basis in the 1960's playing, amongst others, a Gretsch White Falcon or a Gibson 3 p/u Les Paul Custom SG. Cedric West, "Guitar Discussion Featuring Wes Montgomery, Jack Duarte, Ike Isaacs and Cedric West," Crescendo International, May (1965) Full Wes Montgomery Guitar Discussion with Cedric, Ike and Jack
Cedric West Guitar Quartet: Bach goes West - Columbia STCX 340.575 -Track listing:Bach Goes West - Bach to Baroque -  Bach Goes West 2 -
Soliloquy - Bach Goes West 4 - Sinfonia No.2 - Cedric's Wee Fugue - Swing in Baroque - Invention for four guitars - Fugue for three - 3/4 Waltz - Bach Goes West 4.
Carl Dewhurst born 1969 returned to London in 1995 and there led his own group “Burnt Orange”. He performed regularly and played at all major venues including Ronnie Scott's, 606 and the Vortex. He taught Jazz studies and guitar at Brunel and Thames Valley Universities. He played with British Jazz guitarists Dave Cliff and Dick Abel in the Cedric West Guitar Quartet. Cedric West Entertains Joe Pass in Castleton Road, Goodmayes, Essex - Indian summer indeed. Spot Louis Stewart
Hugh Turner started playing guitar at age 11 and by 13 he was playing with his brothers blues band in pubs and clubs around his native Reading. At 16 he had already started teaching and had discovered jazz, first studying under Cedric West, the acclaimed thumb picking Burmese jazz guitarist; and later John Etheridge and Dave Cliff, Britain's finest bebop guitar player. Hugh’s latest quartet comprises Tolly Vyacheslavov on tenor sax, bassist Jerry Soffe and Simon Price on drums. Hi Louis (Stewart), You may recall me, Cedric’s and Ike’s friend, and remember how we got lost in the Maida Vale Studios looking for a Drinks Machine? that was when you were there recording with the Cedric West Guitar Sextet, happy days Louis. The last time we met was at Ced’s gig the "Bow Bells" Pub Stratford London, hoping to hear from you, all the best and keep up the World Class playing. - Ken Cedric was my God Father and as a boy I used to listen to him playing in pubs and clubs. Whilst I was amazed as a child, ABBA seemed to me a better option, if only I knew now what I should have known then! Cedric and Nesta were truly amazing to me as a child and I miss them - Glen One for my old teacher Cedric West. His house was always full of guitarists drinking his terrible cups of tea, chatting, arguing, and playing. Wonderful. - Mike Chapman
Personnel: Oh yes, i knew Cedric West also....he was famous amongst the Anglo-Indian community and his house was a sort of Hotel to journeying jazz guitarists (Wes, Joe Pass etc)..i still have the interview on tape that Ike & Cedric did with Wes Montgomery in 1965. - Colin PRS
Eddie Thompson - Piano I used to go to a jazz night in a room in a pub in Walthamstow, run by a bloke who was a mate of Cedric West. One night they had Ike Isaacs there as a guest and he did a kind of display/workshop, it was simply magical.
Robin Hall: vocals, guitar
|
|
|
