Syd Lawrence (26 June 1923 – 5 May 1998) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

, who became famous in the UK for his orchestra's

Big Band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

sound, which drew on the 1940s style of music of

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

and

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

amongst others.

Career

Born in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England, in 1923,Gifford D. Obituary: Syd Lawrence
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (7 May 1998) (accessed 20 April 2010) Lawrence was a talented

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

player 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 wrote and arranged music. He was based in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

during the war years, playing and arranging for the RAF service bands. After he left the armed forces, he played with some of the leading British dance bands of the 1940s, finally being invited to join the

BBC Northern Dance Orchestra The BBC Northern Dance Orchestra was a big band run by the BBC and formed in 1956 as the successor to the BBC's Northern Variety Orchestra, which had been formed on 1 April 1951. Known to listeners as the NDO, it broadcast on the radio daily, usua ...

in 1953. He stayed with this band for sixteen years playing alongside fellow trumpet player Stan Hibbert. In 1967, Lawrence teamed up with several of his colleagues at the Northern Dance Orchestra to play the music that he was most enthusiastic about, that of Glenn Miller. Early concerts at the Mersey Hotel in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

were a success, and larger venues were found to play in as the reputation of his band grew. Respected comedian

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and pianist. He was known for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona, musical routines, and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early li ...

discovered the Syd Lawrence Orchestra playing in a bar. He liked them so much, that he wanted them to play backing music for his show

Sez Les ''Sez Les'' is a British sketch comedy show that starred Les Dawson. It was produced by Yorkshire Television, and aired on ITV from 1969 to 1976. Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough (who was a cast member from series four onward) regularly perfo ...

. He begged

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

to give them a chance and they did. And so the Syd Lawrence Orchestra was given their first real break on TV and a regular spot on the comedy show. As the music became more popular, Lawrence and his band started touring around the UK, which they did with great success for many years. In 1969 he signed with Philips Records and the band's first release was on the low-price Contour label (catalogue no. 6870 550), selling at 10/6d. Titled "Syd Lawrence with the Glenn Miller Sound", and credited to The Syd Lawrence Orchestra, it was recorded at

Strawberry Studios Strawberry Studios was a recording studio in Stockport, historically in Cheshire, now within Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1968, it operated until the early 1990s. Strawberry Studios was used by a range of artists including the Ramones ...

on 23 and 25 September 1969. It had ten tracks, all being songs or tunes previously recorded by Miller between 1939 and 1942; some being slightly extended or rearranged. The Orchestra went on to record about fifteen long playing albums, usually at the Strawberry Recording Studios in Manchester along with radio and television appearances on variety shows. He appeared with his band on ''

3-2-1 ''3–2–1'' is a British game show that made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, from 29 July 1978 to 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a Spanish game show called '' Un, dos, tres... respond ...

'' and also occasionally was a vocalist. Lawrence retired from touring in 1994 and died of an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

in 1998. Following his death, the Syd Lawrence Band continued on and still tours. The orchestra was led by Bryan Pendleton, and is currently led by Chris Dean. In 2011 it was voted the Best Big Band in the Land for the 11th consecutive year.

References

External links

Syd Lawrence: The Man who brought back the Big Bands to usThe Fabulous Syd Lawrence Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Syd 1923 births 1998 deaths Musicians from Chester People from Wilmslow British bandleaders Deaths from aneurysm 20th-century English musicians Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force musicians Military personnel from Cheshire