Jazz Remembered
Those Remembering
The Dancing Slipper
Nottingham
Over time, a number of readers of this website have contributed their memories of the Dancing Slipper in Nottingham.
Here is a little more about those who remembered the famous venue:
Les Shaw : drums:
Les talks about the Nottingham Jazz Orchestra celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019 here.
Johnny Johnstone: clarinettist, saxophonist and bandleader:
"I formed my first band, the Johnny Johnstone All Stars, in 1962, which ran regularly in various Nottingham residences, mainly pub's, through till the early 1970's, with a fairly stable personnel comprising Dave Leithead (trumpet), Ken Sansom (trombone), Ralph Laing (piano), Chris Stones (guitar), Ernie Greenwood (bass), Mik Coney (drums) and myself on clarinet and tenor sax. Our best residency was at a pub called The Milton's Head where we had a Sunday evening session in what was called the Theatre Bar. From Monday to Saturday evenings there was "Old Time Music Hall", but we had the bar on Sunday evenings.
How we got it was one of those strokes of luck that sometimes comes your way. Ken Sansom and myself were walking back to our cars / buses when we chanced to meet the drummer with the band that was in residence at that time in The Milton's, and he told us that the band had quit that night due to some disagreement with the landlord. As we were going to need a new residence ourselves, Ken and I agreed that Dave Leithead and I would go down to the Milton's Head the next evening and see if we could get in there. This we did, and got the residency which lasted until the place was demolished to make way for what is now the Victoria Centre, a big concrete block of flats!
During this period we had various guest artists including two sessions with Sandy Brown and he managed to get me the worse for wear, with me stupidly mixing beer with whisky! The sessions were, of course, both marvellous - so the band told me! Other guests in various different sessions were Johnny Barnes (at the moment hopefully recovering from a stroke?), Roy Williams, Alan Elsden, Danny Moss, Al Gay, Bruce Turner and Jim Douglas. These days it is not possible to have guests at our regular venue,The Bell Inn in Nottingham, but who knows, maybe sometime in the future it may be possible at another venue?"
Bob Jackson: vocalist and trombonist:
I used to sing with Ralph Laing's band Jazz Spectrum, and played some trombone, up to the end of 1971, and earlier I sometimes depped for Johnny Johnstone's band when Ralph and Dave Leithead were in it.
I moved from Nottingham to Coventry in January 1972, having worked with Jazz Spectrum at the Old General with Ralph Laing, Jerry Williams, Dave Leithead, Ken Sansom and Bill Cole with me on vocals and occasional trombone. I still play on and off with Zoltan Sagi, who was with me in Jazz Spectrum for nearly 25 years, before joining the Big Chris Barber band for nearly 3 years. There are some pictures of Spicy Jazz and some extracts from recordings if you click here. Zoltan arranged various Fairweather Brown numbers for Spicy Jazz, and we recorded some for Zoltan's label Bassline. Zoltan transcribed or adapted the Fairweather/Brown arrangements of tunes like Go Ghana, Scales, The Card, Blues March, Wall Street Lament, African Queen, Maple Leaf Rag, and Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting which we used to do with Spicy Jazz as a tribute to Sandy.
Jazz Spectrum courtesy of Bob Jackson
L-R: Ken Sansom (trombone/banjo); Bob Jackson (vocals/trombone); Ralph Laing (piano/leader);
Mike Coney (drums); Dave Leithead (trumpet); Jerry Williams (clarinet/alto sax); Bill Cole (bass).
Probably taken at the Old General in 1970/1971
Ralph Laing: pianist and bandleader: Interview with Ralph Laing here.
Debbie Klein: Daughter of Mick and Betty Gill and Godaughter of Bill Kinell.
Samantha Statham: Grandaughter of Ivy Brooks:
Stu Morrison: banjo and bass guitarist.:
I was born in Pellat Grove, Wood Green in 1939 and was very happy to return there some 20 odd years later to the Fishmongers Arms as Mike Cotton’s banjoist and later bass guitarist. Cramped and hot it may have been but I loved working there. Despite there being drinks available when we finished we all still got to sleep in our own beds during a time when, to earn a living meant playing Penrith one night and Penzance the next, so to speak. We gathered a solid core of fans at the “Fish” and as the Mike Cotton Sound, we were resident there for some time. After I left Mike to take the Banjo chair with Chris Barber’s Jazz Band I’d still go and see Mike and the boys when my night off coincided with their appearance. Going home after one of those nights, having drunk not wisely but too well, I managed to lose control of my motorcycle and I still have the scar over my left eye. A nice souvenir of those wonderful days. Now, in my 81st year, it’s all so long ago but sometimes it just seems like yesterday. Mike, John Beecham and I with other members of the Jazzmen and Sound still meet up every three months and remember those happy days. Amazingly we’re still going pretty strong and still playing." [December 2019]
Alan Smith: bass:
The Dancing Slipper in West Bridgford, Nottingham is where I first met my wife, Joyce, in 1963 while I was bass player for the Johnny Johnstone All-Stars (I had replaced his original bassist Ernie Greenwood, in 1962). On the night Earl Hines guested with the Welsh Band at the Slipper, Joyce and I were invited to the hotel on Gregory Boulevard where the band and Earl Hines were staying and he got on a piano there for another impromptu session.
I later played in the Arthur Coyne Jazz Band at the Bell Inn, Saddlergate, Derby, alongside former Sandy Brown pianist Ralph Laing, who had moved from Edinburgh to work for Rolls-Royce. More great musicians guested with the Coyne Band and my playing days alongside Ralph and his arranging and piano skills were very rewarding. Played at the Milton’s Head, Nottingham, with the Johnstone All-Stars. Guest musicians were featured such as Danny Moss, Al Gay and George Chisholm. I went on to play with the Richard Hallam Trio and the Newark Jazz Band. Later
I became jazz correspondent for the Nottingham Evening Post, writing under the name of Alan Joyce. I wrote a weekly column for 35 years together with regular reviews for the paper. This enabled us to meet and interview such musicians and bands as the MJQ, Ray Brown, Kenny Burrell, Harry Edison, Errol Garner, Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington and Chick Corea, to name but a few.Finally, Joyce was the only person who I had ever met who has actually seen Charlie Parker . . . at a 1957 JATP concert in the Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada, where she also saw Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. Sadly, Joyce died in October last year. She was listening to her favourite pianist, Oscar Peterson, just before she passed away.' [May 2022}
Ron Drakeford: bass:
More about Ron Drakeford here.
Ken Clarke MP: Conservative MP who was born in West Bridgford. He also had a life-long interest in Jazz and broadcast various radio series on the topic. He currently {2026] sits in the House Of Lords as Baron Clarke of Nottingham.
Audience members who have contributed their memories:
Derek Tomlinson; Alan Field; Peter Minkley; Hazel Lale; Bob Moore; David Green; Ken Milner; Mike Rees; Alan Cutts;
Lynne Clifford (nee Hodgkinson);