"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:

Iain wrote:
I can remember
Phil Seaman (the finest British jazz drummer of
that era and a larger than life character with a
penchant for outrageous japes) commenting on
the poor sound from "sticky violins" in TV light
music broadcasts.

Yes. He was a known heroin addict prone
to weird behaviour and outbursts.

Neverthless he was Britain's finest and busiest
jazz drummer, and highly regarded by everyone,
both then and now.

In addition to his brilliant musicianship, I always
found him to be polite, friendly and witty.

But he wasn't (for obvious reasons) one of the
session players common on
BBC TV orchestras.

Really?

Phil Seaman's career began in the late forties.
He died in 1972. The BBC had studios in London,
Birmingham., Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow etc.
I am intrigued that a sound recordist working in
television drama should be so familiar with the
identities of thousands of musicians involved in
music production in so many locations over
such a long period of time:-)

Phil was resident drummer with the Jack Parnell
Orchestra (JP, himself a very talented drummer
was also Musical Director for ATV).

Ronnie Scott appeared regularly on BBC TV
which also made programmes from his club
in Frith Street. Phil Seaman played in Ronnie
Scott's band.

Phil also played under Laurie Holloway for the
first series of the Michael Parkinson Show on BBC.

He played regularly on BBC's Jazz Club (Radio II ?)
which was broadcast live from the Paris Theatre in
Regent St. Phil was almost a fixture there, as he was
drummer in the three most popular Britsh jazz groups,
those of Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey and Ronnie Scott.
I had a season ticket:-)

When a jazz drummer was needed he was the player of
choice. He had several kits which his roadies use to take
from studio to studio in advance to help him keep
his busy schedule. He was in great demand (for obvious
reasons, Dave:-))

When West Side Story came to the UK, they needed a
musician who could play all tuned percussion, plus
timpany and drum kit. There were no classical players
who could play the jazz/rock kit parts, and few jazz/
rock players could read well enough, or play tuned
percussion.

The story is the Leonard Bernestein himself asked for
Phil Seaman.

Anyway, he did not audition but went straight into
rehearsal with the orchestra. Players were amazed
by his skill - he did not speak or ask questions,
he just watched the conductor, read the part, prima vista
and played faultlessly! The show ran for more than 1 000
performances. He played them all.

Besides being an incredibly talented musician, he was
also a remarkable wit. There are several versions of the
West Side Story "Gong" episode. Phil told it as follows:

There were long sections in the musical where he
had nothing to play. He used to put his sticks into
their bag, fold his arms, and lean back on his drum
stool with eyes shut. He was counting bars.

A deputy musical director thought he was asleep
and signalled in alarm to the bass player, who poked
Phil in the ribs with his bow. Startled, Phil fell from the
drum stool and crashed into a huge gong. It stopped
the show, and when the gong crash had finally faded,
Phil stood up and said in a loud voice:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Dinner is served".

Iain.