Gerald Bright
Encyclopedia
Gerald Walcan Bright, better known as Geraldo (10 August 1904, London, England – 4 May 1974, Vevey
, Switzerland) was a British bandleader.
Bright adopted the name "Geraldo" in 1930 to become one of the most popular dance-band leaders of the 1930s with his "sweet music" and his "Gaucho Tango Orchestra". During the 1940s, he modernized his style to continue enjoying great success.
in London. He started his career as a pianist playing for silent films.
Geraldo became a major figure on the British entertainment scene for four decades, having fronted just about every kind of ensemble and influenced the successful careers of numerous top singers. For his broadcasts he varied the style of his orchestra quite considerably, and a particular series Tip Top Tunes (employing a full string section alongside the usual dance band) enjoyed great popularity. Several commercial recordings were made, spotlighting the considerable arranging talents of the young Wally Stott (better known in the US as Angela Morley
) .
Over the years, most of the UK's top musicians played with Geraldo's orchestra, including Ted Heath
, who played first trombone in the orchestra before leaving to form his own band and the guitarist Ken Sykora, later to become a respected radio personality, and trumpeter Freddie Jameson
.
In the 1950s he composed the start-up music for Scottish Television
. Entitled Scotlandia, it was heard virtually every day for over thirty years at the beginning of programmes.
Geraldo died from a heart attack while on holiday in Switzerland
in 1974. In 1993 a new Geraldo Orchestra, directed by trombonist Chris Dean, toured the UK provinces.
in London. In addition to booking bands for theatres and hotels, he placed musicians on transatlantic and cruise liners – in the music business this was known as "Geraldo's Navy".
From the mid-1930s for a period of some twenty years, American musicians were banned from performing in the UK by the British Musicians Union. The ban was in retaliation for a similar restriction in the USA which prevented British musicians from working in the States. It was especially frustrating for post-war British jazzmen who wanted to see and hear their American idols. However, one way for them to cross the Atlantic was to join the dance bands of Cunard
liners such as the Queen Mary
, Queen Elizabeth
, Mauretania
and the QE2
, or Canadian Pacific vessels like the Empress of England and the Empress of Canada
. The Cunarders were especially popular because when they had docked in New York, the musicians would have one or two nights free to visit jazz venues like Birdland
on Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street
in Manhattan, or clubs in Greenwich Village
. Some even arranged to take lessons with American stars during their shore leave: for example, Bruce Turner took saxophone lessons with Lee Konitz
.
In the public rooms of the liners, the musicians were required to play strict tempo dance music, but they would sometimes slip in the odd jazz number – especially if there was a chance that a celebrity passenger might sit in. Duke Ellington
is known to have played piano with the ship’s dance band when he crossed from New York to Southampton aboard the Queen Mary in the late 1950s.
Many well-known figures in British post-war jazz "served" in Geraldo's musical navy, such as John Dankworth
, Benny Green, Bill Le Sage
, Ronnie Scott
, and Stan Tracey
.
Eric Delaney (drums) came in December 1946 and (one short period apart) stayed until May 1954.
Other noted names in the band (1946/7 period and prior) included Wally Stott, Keith Bird, Bob Adams (saxes) and Eddie Calvert (trumpet)- Archie Lewis. Dick James and Carole Carr were vocalists of note.
As himself:
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, Switzerland) was a British bandleader.
Bright adopted the name "Geraldo" in 1930 to become one of the most popular dance-band leaders of the 1930s with his "sweet music" and his "Gaucho Tango Orchestra". During the 1940s, he modernized his style to continue enjoying great success.
Biography
He played piano and organ and studied at the Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in London. He started his career as a pianist playing for silent films.
Geraldo became a major figure on the British entertainment scene for four decades, having fronted just about every kind of ensemble and influenced the successful careers of numerous top singers. For his broadcasts he varied the style of his orchestra quite considerably, and a particular series Tip Top Tunes (employing a full string section alongside the usual dance band) enjoyed great popularity. Several commercial recordings were made, spotlighting the considerable arranging talents of the young Wally Stott (better known in the US as Angela Morley
Angela Morley
Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....
) .
Over the years, most of the UK's top musicians played with Geraldo's orchestra, including Ted Heath
Ted Heath (bandleader)
Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records...
, who played first trombone in the orchestra before leaving to form his own band and the guitarist Ken Sykora, later to become a respected radio personality, and trumpeter Freddie Jameson
Freddie Jameson
Freddie Jameson, also known as Fred Jameson, is an English trumpet player, composer and arranger, who worked for several leading British bandleaders in the 1950s and 1960s....
.
In the 1950s he composed the start-up music for Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
. Entitled Scotlandia, it was heard virtually every day for over thirty years at the beginning of programmes.
Geraldo died from a heart attack while on holiday in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1974. In 1993 a new Geraldo Orchestra, directed by trombonist Chris Dean, toured the UK provinces.
Geraldo's Navy
After World War II, Geraldo also ran an agency from his offices at 73 New Bond StreetBond Street
Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops...
in London. In addition to booking bands for theatres and hotels, he placed musicians on transatlantic and cruise liners – in the music business this was known as "Geraldo's Navy".
From the mid-1930s for a period of some twenty years, American musicians were banned from performing in the UK by the British Musicians Union. The ban was in retaliation for a similar restriction in the USA which prevented British musicians from working in the States. It was especially frustrating for post-war British jazzmen who wanted to see and hear their American idols. However, one way for them to cross the Atlantic was to join the dance bands of Cunard
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
liners such as the Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
, Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. Plying with her running mate Queen Mary as a luxury liner between Southampton, UK and New York City, USA via Cherbourg, France, she was also contracted for over twenty years to carry the Royal Mail as the second half of the two...
, Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1938)
RMS Mauretania was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England and was completed in May 1939. A successor to RMS Mauretania , the second Mauretania was the first ship built for the newly formed Cunard White Star company following the merger in April 1934 of the Cunard...
and the QE2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
, or Canadian Pacific vessels like the Empress of England and the Empress of Canada
Empress of Canada
RMS Empress of Canada or Empress of Canada may refer to one of the following ships of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company:, a 21,517-ton ship built in Glasgow, Scotland; Vancouver-based ship served the Far East; served as troopship in World War II; torpedoed and sunk off Africa by an Italian...
. The Cunarders were especially popular because when they had docked in New York, the musicians would have one or two nights free to visit jazz venues like Birdland
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
on Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street
52nd Street (Manhattan)
52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
in Manhattan, or clubs in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. Some even arranged to take lessons with American stars during their shore leave: for example, Bruce Turner took saxophone lessons with Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
.
In the public rooms of the liners, the musicians were required to play strict tempo dance music, but they would sometimes slip in the odd jazz number – especially if there was a chance that a celebrity passenger might sit in. Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
is known to have played piano with the ship’s dance band when he crossed from New York to Southampton aboard the Queen Mary in the late 1950s.
Many well-known figures in British post-war jazz "served" in Geraldo's musical navy, such as John Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
, Benny Green, Bill Le Sage
Bill Le Sage
Bill Le Sage, born William A. Le Sage, born London - died , London, was a British pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, composer and bandleader. His credits include the score for the 1960 film The Tell-Tale Heart....
, Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
, and Stan Tracey
Stan Tracey
Stanley William Tracey CBE is a British jazz pianist and composer, most influenced by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.-Early career:...
.
Orchestra
The Geraldo Orchestra from 1940 to 1947:- Gerald Bright (Geraldo), Conductor
- Sid Bright (twin brother of Gerald), Piano
- Jack Collier, Bass
- Maurice Berman (Burman), Drums
- Ivor Mairants, Guitar
- Alfie Noakes, Basil Jones, Flash Shields, Leslie Hutchinson, Trumpets
- Ted Heath, Eric Tann, Joe Ferrie, Jimmy Coombes, Trombones
- Harry Hayes (Chipper), Nat TempleNat TempleNat Temple was an English big band leader, and a clarinet and saxophone player.Amongst many others, he worked with Syd Roy, Harry Roy, Geraldo, Ambrose, Joe Daniels, and Lew Stone.-Career:...
, Dougie Robinson, George Evans, Arthur Birkby, Phil Goody, Saxes - Georgia LeeGeorgia Lee (singer)Georgia Lee was a jazz and blues singer from Cairns, Queensland, Australia.Born as Dulcie Rama Pitt, her father was of Jamaican descent and her mother was Indian, Australian Aboriginal, Islander and Scottish. With her sisters Sophie and Heather Pitt, she formed the Harmony Sisters and performed as...
, Dorothy Carless, Doreen Villiers, Len Camber, Beryl Davies, J. Hunter, Johnny Green, Derek Roy, Sally Douglas, Vocals.
Eric Delaney (drums) came in December 1946 and (one short period apart) stayed until May 1954.
Other noted names in the band (1946/7 period and prior) included Wally Stott, Keith Bird, Bob Adams (saxes) and Eddie Calvert (trumpet)- Archie Lewis. Dick James and Carole Carr were vocalists of note.
Filmography
As an actor:- No Parking (1938)
- Dance Hall (1950) (uncredited) – Orchestra Leader
- We'll Meet AgainWe'll Meet Again (film)We'll Meet Again is a 1943 British musical film directed by Philip Brandon and starring Vera Lynn.-Plot summary:The film is about a young dancer trying to make it in London during World War II and then discovers that people like her singing voice. Although she's reluctant at first to sing, she...
(1943) - Laugh It Off (1940)
As himself:
- Road House (1934)
- School for Stars (1935)
- London Melody (1937) (uncredited)
- Tin Pan Alley (1951)
Discography
- Geraldo And His Orchestra (World 1974)
- Hello Again ... Again (Transatlantic 1976)
- 50 Hits Of The Naughty 40s (Pickwick 1977)
- Gerry's Music Shop (Decca 1980)
- Heart And Soul (HMV 1983)
- Jealousy (with the Gaucho Tango Orchestra) (Parlophone 1983)
- The Golden Age Of Geraldo (EMI 1986)
- The Man And His Music (EMI 1992)
- The Dance Band Years (Pulse 1997)