Rupert Edward Lee "Buddy" Featherstonhaugh ( ; 4 October 1909 – 12 July 1976) was an English

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 ...

saxophonist and

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

Musical career

Born in Paris in 1909, the son of an English marine architect and his Scottish wife. His grandfather, George William Featherstonhaugh, a geologist and geographer, had already emigrated to America. After moving to England, he studied in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, and had his first professional gig with Pat O'Malley in 1927. He was with Spike Hughes from 1930 to 1932, and toured England in Billy Mason's band behind

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

that same year and in 1933 he recorded with a group called The Cosmopolitans, which included Fletcher Allen. He recorded with Valaida Snow in 1935 and

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

in 1937. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he led a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

band which had among its members Vic Lewis, Don McAffer, and Jack Parnell. They went on to record as The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio Rhythm Club Sextet during 1943–45. After the war he toured

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in 1946, and then left the jazz scene, taking up work as a car salesman. In 1956 he returned to play (and recorded) in a quintet with trumpeter Leon Calvert, Roy Sidewell,

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

, and Bobby Wellins. He also appeared with the band at Butlin's Holiday Camps in the mid-1950s. He toured the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

in 1957, after which he retired.

Racing car interests

He also was an occasional racing car driver. In 1934 he took over Whitney Straight's car, a Maserati 26M, winning the

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

Grand Prix as member of the ''Team Straight''.Buddy Featherstonhaugh winner of the 1934 Albi GP
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Featherstonhaugh, Buddy 1909 births 1976 deaths English racing drivers Grand Prix drivers English jazz saxophonists English male saxophonists Swing saxophonists 20th-century English saxophonists 20th-century English male musicians English male jazz musicians Racing drivers from Paris

Musical career

Racing car interests

See also

References