Robert Leslie "Bob" Cornford (15 May 1940 – 18 July 1983) was a British
jazz pianist and composer.
He was born in
Brazil to British nationals. He received classical training in music, including studies at the
Royal College of Music.
He joined the ensemble of
John Dankworth in the 1960s while working as an arranger and orchestrator on for the
BBC,
and he composed for the
NDR Radiophilharmonie
The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German radio orchestra, affiliated with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersa ...
and the
DR Big Band
The Danish Radio Big Band (aka: DR Big Band), often referred to as the Radioens Big Band is a radio ensemble and big band founded in Copenhagen in 1964 at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).
Band history
Originally called the New Radio ...
.
The NDR perform Cornford's ''Coalescence'' and ''In Memoriam''.
Beginning in 1977 he was a member of the band Axel with
Tony Coe and in 1983 performed with
Lee Konitz
Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist.
He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...
.
He also worked with
Phil Lee
Phillip Robert Lee (born 8 April 1943, London, England) is an English jazz guitarist.
Lee studied guitar with Ike Isaacs as a teenager and was a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, including for their performance at the 1960 Antibes Jaz ...
,
Alan Skidmore
Alan Richard James Skidmore (born 21 April 1942) is an English jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore.
Career
He was born in London, England. Skidmore began his professional career in his teens, and early in his care ...
,
Bobby Wellins,
Kenny Wheeler,
,
Humphrey Lyttelton,
Palle Mikkelborg,
Mark Murphy,
Pat Smythe
Patricia Rosemary "Pat" Smythe, OBE (22 November 1928 – 27 February 1996) was a British show jumper. She competed at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, winning a team bronze medal in 1956. She served as president of the British Show Jumpi ...
,
Trevor Tomkins, and
Norma Winstone and accompanied vocalists such as
Scott Walker and
Gitte Haenning. Cornford died of a heart attack in 1983.
Discography
* ''
Windmill Tilter: The Story of Don Quixote'', John Dankworth and Kenny Wheeler (1969)
* ''Cool Beat'' (Studio G, 1974)
* ''Perception'' (KPM Music, 1981)
* ''Tournée du Chat'', Tony Coe (Nato, 1983)
* ''Music for the Movies'' with
Tony Kinsey (KPM, 1982)
* ''Traditions'' with Richard Harvey (KPM, 1983)
* ''Long Shadows'' with Tony Coe, Kenny Wheeler and the NDR 'Pops' Orchestra (Chapter One, 2007)
References
*"Bob Cornford". ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', 4th edition, ed.
Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
Along wit ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornford, Bob
1940 births
1983 deaths
English jazz pianists
English composers
20th-century British pianists