Chris Karan (born Chrisostomos Karanikis, 14 October 1939) is a Britain-based Australian jazz drummer and percussionist of Greek descent.

Life and career

Karan was born in 1939 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Karan played in the Three Out trio with

Mike Nock Michael Anthony Nock (born 27 September 1940) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, who lives and works in Australia. Biography Nock was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, but spent his childhood in Ngāruawāhia. Nock began studying piano at 11. H ...

and Freddy Logan in Sydney in the early 1960s. After moving to London in 1962, Karan became the drummer in the Dudley Moore Trio; he toured and recorded with Moore for many years, including the trio's appearances on the TV series '' Not Only But Also'' and the soundtrack of the 1967 movie '' Bedazzled''. Their association continued until Moore's last major public appearance at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in New York City in 2001. With Roy Budd he was a member of the Roy Love Trio and performed on the '' Get Carter'' soundtrack. Karan has worked with

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to ma ...

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Music of Latin America, Lati ...

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

, Stanley Myers, Basil Kirchin,

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mu ...

, Jackie Trent,

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, Jerry Fielding, Pat Williams,

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

, Richard Rodney Bennett,

Barry Tuckwell Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell, (5 March 1931 – 16 January 2020) was an Australian French horn player who spent most of his professional life in the UK and the United States. He is generally considered to have been one of the world's leading horn p ...

, Carl Davis,

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

the Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...

and Roy Budd. He toured with John Dankworth and

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Hitching; 28 October 1927) is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec D ...

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, Caterina Valente,

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

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and the Swingle Singers. He was a member of the Harry Stoneham group, which provided the musical backing for the

Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...

shows on BBC-TV. He has worked with Katie Melua, along with putting out albums of his own. Other than drums he has an interest in percussion styles of the world. He plays the

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

on some albums, having studied the instrument under the Indian musician Alla Rakha.

Discography

As sideman

With Mike Batt * '' Schizophonia'' (Epic, 1977) * ''Caravans'' (CBS, 1978) * '' Tarot Suite'' (Epic, 1979) * ''Arabesque'' (Epic, 1995) With Roy Budd * ''Is the Sound of Music'' (Pye, 1967) * ''Pick Yourself Up!!!'' (Pye, 1967) * ''Roy Budd at Newport'' (Pye, 1968) * ''Budd 'n' Bossa'' (Pye, 1970) * ''Get Carter'' (Odeon, 1971) * ''Fear Is the Key'' (Pye, 1972) * ''Everything's Coming Up Roses'' (Pye, 1976) With

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

* ''Plays the Theme from Beyond the Fringe & All That Jazz'' (Atlantic, 1962) * ''The Other Side of Dudley Moore'' (Decca, 1965) * ''Genuine Dud'' (Decca, 1966) * ''Bedazzled'' (Decca, 1968) * ''The Dudley Moore Trio'' (Decca, 1969) * ''Today'' (Atlantic, 1972) * ''At the Wavendon Festival'' (Black Lion, 1976) * ''Dudley Down Under'' (Cube, 1978) * ''The Music of Dudley Moore'' (Cube, 1978) * ''Jazz Jubilee'' (Martine, 2004) With others * Amazing Blondel, ''Evensong'' (Island, 1970) * Harvey Andrews, ''Friends of Mine'' (Cube, 1973) * Steve Ashley, ''Stroll On'' (Gull, 1974) * Ken Baker, ''Baker's Dozen'' (Interfusion, 1973) *

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...

, ''Winning'' (Epic, 1976) *

Peter Bardens Peter Bardens (19 June 1945 – 22 January 2002) was an English keyboardist and a founding member of the progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked alongside ...

, ''Heart to Heart'' (Arista, 1979) * Madeline Bell, ''This Is One Girl'' (Pye, 1976) *

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

, ''Teresa Brewer In London'' (Flying Dutchman, 1973) * Polly Brown, ''Special Delivery'' (GTO, 1975) * Ian Carr with Nucleus, ''Solar Plexus'' (Vertigo, 1971) * Dave Cartwright, ''Back to the Garden'' (Transatlantic, 1973) * Tina Charles, '' Heart 'n' Soul'' (CBS, 1977) * Chi Coltrane, ''Let It Ride'' (Columbia, 1973) * Ray Ellington, ''You're the Talk of the Town'' (Gold Star, 1975) * David Fanshawe, ''Arabian Fantasy'' (EMI, 1976) *

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

, '' Wind of Change'' (A&M, 1972) *

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

, ''Vu De L'Exterieur'' (Philips, 1973) * Roger Glover, ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' (Purple, 1974) * Stephane Grappelli, ''Hommage a Django Reinhardt'' (Festival, 1972) * Stephane Grappelli, ''Just One of Those Things'' (EMI, 1984) *

Steve Harley Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice (27 February 1951 – 17 March 2024), known by his stage name Steve Harley, was an English singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock music, rock group Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Cockney Rebel. The band achieved ...

, '' Hobo with a Grin'' (Capitol, 1978) * Nazia Hassan, ''Disco Deewane'' (His Master's Voice, 1980) * Murray Head, '' Nigel Lived'' (CBS, 1972) * Edmund Hockridge, ''Hockridge Meets Hammond'' (Ad-Rhythm, 1975) *

The Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

, ''

Russian Roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...

'' (Polydor, 1976) * Catherine Howe, ''Dragonfly Days'' (Ariola, 1979) *

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the comedy rock group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Monty Py ...

, ''Off the Record'' (MMC, 1982) * Davey Johnstone, ''Smiling Face'' (Rocket, 1973) * Gerard Kenny, ''Coming Home'' (Park, 2005) * The King's Singers, ''Swing'' (EMI, 1976) * Basil Kirchin, ''Abstractions of the Industrial North'' (Trunk, 2005) * Basil Kirchin, ''Particles'' (Trunk, 2007) *

, ''Cleo Laine/Live'' (Jazz Man, 1981) * Linda Lewis, ''Hacienda View'' (Ariola, 1979) *

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, ''Classic Rock'' (K-Tel, 1977) * Cheryl Lynn, '' In Love'' (Columbia, 1979) *

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

, ''Jalousie'' (EMI Electrola, 1973) * Katie Melua, '' Piece by Piece'' (Dramatico, 2005) *

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

, ''Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose'' (RCA, 1976) *

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

, '' Oliver Edward Nelson in London with Oily Rags'' (Flying Dutchman, 1974) * Jack Parnell, ''Braziliana'' (Music for Pleasure, 1977) *

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

, ''New Songs for Old Friends'' (Reprise, 1973) * Tom Paxton, ''Something in My Life'' (Private Stock, 1975) *

Chris Rainbow Christopher James Harley, known by the stage name Chris Rainbow (18 November 1946 – 22 February 2015), was a Scottish pop rock singer and musician whose songs "Give Me What I Cry For" and "Solid State Brain" were often played by British radio ...

, ''Looking Over My Shoulder'' (Polydor, 1978) * Len Rawle, ''Yamaha Magic'' (Ad-Rhythm, 1973) * John Schroeder, ''Latin Vibrations'' (Polydor, 1971) *

Ronnie Scott Ronnie Scott Order of the British Empire, OBE (born Ronald Schatt; 28 January 1927 – 23 December 1996) was a British jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district ...

, ''When I Want Your Opinion I'll Give It to You'' (Jazz House, 1997) *

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...

, ''Seekers Seen in Green'' (Capitol, 1968) *

Peter Skellern Peter Skellern (14 March 1947 – 17 February 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two Hit song, top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart – "You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature ...

, ''Hard Times'' (Island, 1975) * Terry Smith, ''Fall Out'' (Philips, 1969) * Randy Stonehill, ''Get Me Out of Hollywood'' (Philips, 1973) * Swingle II, ''Madrigals'' (CBS, 1974) * Swingle II, ''Words and Music'' (CBS, 1974) *

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...

, '' Taupin'' (DJM, 1971) * Richard & Linda Thompson, '' First Light'' (Chrysalis, 1978) *

, ''A Sure Thing'' (Angel, 1979) * Lee Vanderbilt, ''Get into What You're in'' (RCA, 1977) * Mike Vickers, ''A Day at the Races'' (DJM, 1976) * Loudon Wainwright III, '' I'm Alright'' (Rounder, 1985) *

The Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1964 by John Walker (musician), John Walker (real name John Maus) and Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker (real name Noel Scott Engel), with Gary Walker (musician), Gary Wal ...

, '' No Regrets'' (Gto, 1975) * Clifford T. Ward, ''No More Rock 'n' Roll'' (Philips, 1975) * Denny Wright, ''Non Stop Pepsi Party'' (Music for Pleasure, 1974) *

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

, '' Little Games'' (Epic, 1967)

References

External links

* * Creditsa
allmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karan, Chris Australian jazz drummers Australian male drummers Musicians from Melbourne Australian people of Greek descent 1939 births Living people Australian expatriates in England Australian male jazz composers Dudley Moore Trio members