Don Rendell & Barbara Thompson - Just Music 1974

Donald Percy "Don" Rendell (4 March 1926 – 20 October 2015) was an English jazz musician and arranger. Mainly active as a tenor saxophonist, he also played soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet.

Born as the son of two musicians in Plymouth, England, Rendell's jazz career began when he was fifteen, with the alto sax, switching to tenor after a few years. His earliest professional engagements were with big bands, first on U.S. bases for the U.S.O. in 1944, and then with the Oscar Rabin Band, among others. In 1950 he became a member of the Johnny Dankworth Seven, remaining until 1953. When Dankworth decided to put together a big band, Rendell parted company with him.

As well as gigging as a guest soloist around London's jazz clubs, he started to lead his own groups; from 1954 these often featured Ronnie Ross, who played tenor at that time. He also spent time working with Tony Crombie and Ted Heath, toured Europe with Stan Kenton in 1956, played with Woody Herman's Anglo-American Herd in 1959, and led a group accompanying Billie Holiday when she toured in the UK. His own groups featured musicians such as Graham Bond, Michael Garrick, Barbara Thompson, John Burch, and Ian Carr. In 1963 he and Carr formed the Rendell–Carr Quintet, which performed and recorded for some seven years.

Rendell's style owed much to Lester Young, and he added many other influences during his career, including John Coltrane. He was a leading jazz-educator and taught for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London from 1984.

Rendell died on 20 October 2015 in London after a short illness at the age of 89.

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Don Rendell - Roarin' (1961)

Billed to "the New Don Rendell Quintet," this 1961 album was an important document of early-'60s British jazz, proving that U.K. jazz musicians could play well in the hard bop style that had been pioneered in the United States. It's not incredibly distinctive or innovative when measured against the best American music in the style, particularly since the group chose to make three of the seven tracks covers of famous compositions by three major U.S. jazzmen (Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk," Duke Pearson's "Jeannine," and Miles Davis' "So What"). However, the group does perform with respectable energy and swing, as well as effectively integrating decent original material. For rock fans, the record's most notable for Graham Bond's presence on alto sax; a couple of years or so after this session, Bondwould form his own group, the other players including future Cream rhythm section members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. He's not the dominant force on this LP, however, or even the only sax player, as leader Rendell handles the tenor sax. In addition, there's little specific similarity with Bond's later work, on which he'd usually sing and play organ on British blues-rock with a jazz influence, though you can hear some of the manic intensity for which Bond was known in his alto playing on "Manumission." After a long stretch of unavailability, the album was issued on CD in 2004, with the addition of historical liner notes. AMG.

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Don Rendell and Ian Carr - Live 1968

b. 4 March 1926, Plymouth, Devon, England. Rendell began playing alto saxophone as a child but later switched to tenor. He played in a number of dance bands during the late 40s, and in 1950 became a member of John Dankworth’s septet. After leaving Dankworth in 1953 he formed his own small group but also worked with bands led by Tony Crombie, Ted Heath and others. In 1956 he joined Stan Kenton for a European tour, appearing on Live At The Albert Hall. In the late 50s he played with Woody Herman. During the 60s Rendell was again leading his own bands, featuring musicians such as Graham Bond, Michael Garrick and Ian Carr, with whom he was co-leader of a successful band. The four albums he recorded with Carr are highly recommended. Rendell has also recorded with Stan Tracey (The Latin American Caper), and Neil Ardley (Greek Variations).

A fluent improviser, with hints of post-bop styling overlaying a deep admiration for the earlier work of Lester Young, Rendell has long been one of the most admired of British jazz artists. For many years he has been tireless in the promotion of jazz through his activities as a sought-after teacher.

Ian Carr has been on the cutting edge of the British jazz scene for nearly four decades. Self-trained as a musician, Carr played an important role in the development of jazz-rock fusion, playing with John McLaughlin in the early '60s, forming one of England's first electronic jazz-rock fusion groups, Nucleus, in 1969 and playing with the international band the United Jazz Rock Ensemble, since 1975. In 1982, Carr received a Calabria award in southern Italy for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Jazz. Wire Magazine presented him a special award for services to British jazz in 1987. Carr has been equally influential as a music journalist and educator. The co-author of a jazz encyclopedia, The Essential Companion, Carr was also the author of Music Outside, an examination of contemporary British jazz published in 1973; Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography, published in 1982; and Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music, published in 1991. Since 1992, Carr has written a monthly column for BBC Music Magazine. Carr is an associate professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Dance and lectures weekly on jazz history. Born in Scotland and raised in England, Carr thought little of a career in music until he was nearly 30 years old. Educated at King's College in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where he studied English literature, Carr served in the Army in the late '50s. Shortly after his discharge, he formed a band, the EmCee Five, with his brother Mike and John McLaughlin. Carr remained with the band for two years, leaving to form the Rendell-Carr Group with saxophonist Don Rendell in 1962. During the seven years he worked with Rendell, Carr helped the band record five albums.


In September 1969, Carr helped form the groundbreaking fusion band Nucleus. The group attracted international acclaim when it took the top prize in a competition at the Montreaux International Festival in 1970. Carr continued to play with Nucleus until 1989 when he left to tour the United Kingdom and Europe as a soloist on electric trumpet with an Anglo-American orchestra led by American composer George Russell. Old Heartland was recorded with the Kreisler String Orchestra in 1988 while Sounds and Sweet Airs was recorded with organist John Taylor in 1992. AMG.


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Buy @ Amazon:  Live at the Union 1966 [Vinyl]