East Kilbride Probus Club learned about the origins of jazz at their latest meeting.
Proceedings opened with a few words of welcome from president Ray Jones who then conducted the club's business, which included a recognition of those who had passed away since the club's last pre-COVID meeting.
They included Arthur Cuthbert, George Grassie, Dr Hugh Fletcher, Adam Dickson, Anthony Ashcroft and Angus McConnell.
A minute silence was held while their photos were displayed on the screen.
It was announced that Mr James Ballantyne had volunteered to be this year’s vice-president.
Business concluded, president Jones introduced Mr Robert Henderson to tell members about the origins of jazz.
Mr Henderson was a Lanarkshire born man who joined the Scottish Wholesale Co and trained as a transport manager.
He then moved to the motor trade ending up as an assistant transport manager in a friend’s company until reaching the age of 70.
Music had always been a hobby since a boy of 10 playing in a brass band. He played in various orchestras and swing bands - and is still playing.
He started by briefly showing harrowing photos of slave ships which were transporting captured Africans from East Africa to the ‘new world’ plantations.
Particularly in the New Orleans area, many were landed into what then was a French colony so they were poor English speakers.
When slavery was abolished, many went north to Philadelphia as ostensibly free men and women but they were not really any better off.
By 1871, the Civil War had finished and those freed men started to pick up their musical instruments that had been banned during that previous time and started to play.
One of the first to play was piano music composer Scott Joplin (1867- 1917) - composing was his first love.
About the same time, a whole host of artists sprang up like Charles ‘Buddy’ Bolden.
He, like a few of them, played church hymns which were ‘jazzed’ up as he had a good sense of rhythm. At this point Mr Henderson demonstrated on his trumpet.
This was the beginning of jazz and many coloured people got together and formed groups or orchestras, and a favourite outdoor venue was New Orleans’s Gumbo Square.
Many names followed such as Edouard ‘Kid’ Ory and Bunk Johnson who worked the docks but would join any parades of which there were numerous.
There was King Oliver and his orchestra who had a trumpet player named Louis Armstrong who became a big name in jazz.
Then there was William C Handy of Memphis and his tunes were known as the ‘birth of the blues.’
Having demonstrated many of the styles and innovations, Mr Henderson concluded by highlighting three styles including traditional jazz.
Eddie Holmes gave the vote of thanks and said that it had been amazing talk as well as playing the trumpet at the same time.
The next meeting will be on November 3 at 2.00 for 2.30pm in the Old Parish Church hall in Glebe Street, East Kilbride.
Mr James Robertson will speak about “Gutenberg and the invention of Printing.”
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