Duncan Swift (21 February 1943,

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

– 8 August 1997

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

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) was a British

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 ...

musician and a practitioner of the

stride piano Stride jazz piano, often shortened to stride, is a jazz piano style that arose from ragtime players. Prominent stride pianists include James P. Johnson, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, Luckey Roberts, and Mary Lou Williams. Techn ...

performance style. He recorded two albums for Birmingham's

Big Bear Records Big Bear Records is the oldest independent British record label set up in 1968 by Jim Simpson in Birmingham, England. It specialises in blues and jazz recordings. History Big Bear Records was founded by promoter and band manager Jim Simpson ...

: ''Out Looking For The Lion'', a reference to

Willie "The Lion" Smith Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

, and ''The Broadwood Concert'', both recordings produced by his longtime friend Jim Simpson. Duncan was a qualified classically trained musician and attained L.R.A.M., A.B.S.M., A.B.S.M. (Gen.Mus.) and G.B.S.M. (dist.). He taught music at Hagley RC Secondary School, Worcestershire, as Head of Music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Also, he lectured at Kidderminster College of Further Education and later left teaching to join

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 ...

's Jazz Men in 1977. He performed on television and radio in many different countries over the years. Duncan Swift also made many other recordings with fellow musicians during the course of his career. This includes a solo piano record for the

Black Lion Black Lion, Black Lions, or Blacklions may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Black Lion, Hammersmith, a London pub * Black Lion, Kilburn, a London pub * Black Lion Records, a British jazz record company * Black Lions Films, associated wi ...

titled ''The Entertainer'' recorded in 1969. Also, a solo piano tape ''Tudor Blues'' performed on his own ''Bechstein'' Grand Piano at home in Bewdley. Later, he produced a CD called ''The Key of D is Daffodill Yellow'' in 1992 which was recorded at William Bird's 'The Piano Salon' at Avening Recording Studio for Duncan Swift's Records. It was his wish to record another CD in the mid 1990s but he became ill and died before he could fulfil it. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

References

Digby Fairweather Richard John Charles "Digby" Fairweather (born 25 April 1946) is a British jazz trumpeter, author and broadcaster. Biography Before becoming a professional musician, Fairweather was a librarian and has retained an interest in jazz bibliography ...

, 'Duncan Swift' in Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, and Brian Priestley, ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'', 3rd Edition, Rough Guides, 2004, p. 773. * Richard Cook and Brian Morton, 'Duncan Swift' in ''The Penguin guide to jazz on CD'', 6th Edition, Penguin Books Ltd, 2002, p. 1413. 1943 births 1997 deaths British jazz pianists Stride pianists 20th-century British pianists 20th-century British musicians {{Jazz-pianist-stub