Richard Anthony Charlesworth (8 January 1932 – 15 April 2008) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

tist,

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

Biography

Charlesworth was born and brought up in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

and attended King Edward VII School. At 16, he became a clerk in the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

and was in due course transferred to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He bought a

and started playing

as a hobby in 1952-53.Obituaries: Dick Charlesworth
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 19 April 2008 He was entirely self-taught, but became good enough to play clarinet and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

in a dance band and perform with jazz bands in south LondonObituaries: Dick Charlesworth
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 22 May 2008 including Jim Weller’s Jazzmen. He formed his first group in 1956 while still doing his day job, and his 'Dick Charlesworth's Jazzmen' won the South London Jazz Band Championship in 1957. Charlesworth's group was signed by the Melodisc

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

, and they recorded an EP in December 1957 and produced an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

for

Doug Dobell Douglas Arthur Dobell (1917 – 10 July 1987) was a British record store proprietor and record producer who ran Dobell's Record Shop in Charing Cross Road, London, and 77 Records. He was involved in developing, recording and marketing jazz, blue ...

77 Records 77 Records was a British record company and label established in 1957 by Doug Dobell, the proprietor of 'Dobell's Jazz Record Shop' at 77 Charing Cross Road, London. The label specialised in folk, blues, and jazz. Several British jazz musician ...

. Charlesworth left the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in 1959 and became a professional musician. He signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and his group was remarketed as 'Dick Charlesworth's City Gents'. This was the time when light jazz was popular in the British

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

as typified by

Acker Bilk Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistco ...

and

Kenny Ball Kenneth Daniel Ball (22 May 1930Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music''. (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 29; ) – 7 March 2013) was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and ...

, also attired in distinctive costumes. Charlesworth's group sported pin stripes and

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

s, and had a Latin motto, Dum vivimus vivamus, (“While we live, let us enjoy life”). Their only chart single was "Billy Boy",which reached 43 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1961. The City Gents often appeared on television including '' The Morecambe and Wise Show'' and ''

Sunday Night at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...

''. Charlesworth sang the title song of a comedy

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, '' In the Doghouse'', starring

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the '' Carry On'' ...

and featured in his own 15 minute musical short in 1963. However the British

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

scene changed significantly in the early sixties and jazz went out of vogue. Charlesworth broke up his band, and from 1964 to 1969 worked for P&O fronting a band on the

cruise liner Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s ''

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

'' and '' Orsova''. He then settled in Mojacar, in Spain where he ran a music bar until he returned to Britain in 1977. He was active on the London jazz scene until the early 2000s. He worked with many artists including Keith Smith, Rod Mason, Alan Littlejohn and

Denny Wright Denys Justin Wright (6 May 1924 – 8 February 1992), known professionally as Denny Wright, was a British jazz guitarist. A session musician for many years, Wright frequently acted as arranger and "fixer" for recording sessions. He was a proli ...

. He appeared on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

series, ''Jazz Score'', a quiz show which encouraged its participants to relate anecdotes about their lives in jazz. In his later years, Charlesworth lived in

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred south-west of Charing Cross in central London. Thame ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and played a residency at the George and Dragon

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

every Tuesday with his band "The Dick Charlesworth's Fraternity Four", and also at various other local pubs. The Dick Charleworth's Fraternity Four included Alan Dandy (piano), John Rodber (bass guitar) and Don Cook (drums) and they released their final recording in August 2004. Charlesworth died following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in April 2008, at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlesworth, Dick 1932 births 2008 deaths English jazz clarinetists People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield People from Thames Ditton