My father, the trad jazz trumpeter Mike Peters, who has died aged 89, was renowned for telling gags on stage. One of his well-worn favourites when roll-calling the band was to refer to a band member as “the late [insert name here]” along with a story of their tardiness. Now he is himself “the late Mike Peters”, the memory of his funny one-liners, tall stories and entertaining musicianship will still raise a smile among family and friends.
Born to Francis, an ironmonger, and Natalie (nee Lazarus), in Harrow, north-west London, Mike first fell in love with jazz and the trumpet at the age of 10. The object of his affection was the playing of the trumpeter Avery “Kid” Howard on the Climax Recordings with George Lewis and his New Orleans Stompers.
Some years later, while on national service in the 1950s with the Royal Army Pay Corps in Kure, Japan, Mike compared the city to New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, but with one thing missing – the music. So he and his trumpet-playing buddy Barry Campbell formed the Kure City New Orleans jazz band.
On his return to Britain, Mike became a familiar face on the trad jazz scene. He first joined Brian Wright’s Magna jazz band, then spent time with Graham Stewart’s New Orleans band, mostly playing tours and residencies in Germany, and back home with Terry Lightfoot and His Jazzmen.
His own bands followed in several incarnations, including Mike Peters Florida jazz band, Mike Peters Jazzmen and more recently the self-deprecatingly named Mike Peters World Famous jazz band. Local to where Mike lived in Twickenham, south-west London, a regular venue for him to play was the Eel Pie Island hotel.
As a professional photographer, alongside his music work, Mike was in the perfect place to document the goings-on in the 1960s at the notorious beatnik and hippy haunt, where he photographed the biggest names in British trad jazz. He also captured images of all the “cool cats” witnessing the birth of R&B, including early gigs of the Rolling Stones.
He met Cy Mortimer-Griffin in Twickenham and they married in 1960. They lived together on the John and Mary, a converted Thames sailing barge at Strawberry Hill that was something of a party boat, filled with an ever-changing parade of musicians until their three children came along.
Mike continued playing regularly with his band until he had a stroke in 2010.
One of his favourite sayings was: “True story!” As a keen fisherman, he developed a talent for embellishing the facts. His tales were long and winding, always hilarious, somewhat fantastical and highly imaginative.
Mike and Cy divorced in 1984. He is survived by his partner, Ruth Davis, and by his children, Jacquie, John and me.
