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A potted history by Dave Browning

I first started showing an interest in the piano at the very early age of 3 years old and this was demonstrated in my early days at school as I would apparently happily sit and draw childish sketches of upright pianos even though we did not own a piano at the time.

I was born in Barking (Essex) on the 11th December 1971 and was brought up in a close knit community where everyone knew each other and my family knew an eccentric old lady called Nell Castleton who in fact was the first person to ever show me how to play anything on a piano. She taught me at the very young age of about 5 to play in the key of F which gave me my first introduction to a black note on the keyboard. My love of the playing the piano started at her old hand painted, white, upright piano in the front room of her Ripple Road house. Eventually, when walking home from my school a few years later, I would call in just to play this lovely old piano to satisfy my daily urge to make music.
As I grew older, my parents then decided to pay and send me to piano lessons and I later found out that it really was a test to see if I had it in me. Much to my parent’s dismay, I was given up by two piano teachers as I would not play the sheet music as it was written. I would rather play it in my own style or watch and listen to the teacher play it and repeat it back parrot fashion.

It was during my secondary school years that I knuckled down and had piano lessons given by a rather bold austere German lady who had the patience of a saint but put me through my paces and finally taught me to read music and helped me to pass some of my music exams.

In my mid to late teens, I would frequent a pub with friends (all under age of course!) called the Jolly Cricketers at Nevendon, Essex. Being a regular at the pub I got to know the landlord Mac and his wife Daphne and during several conversations we got on to the subject of music and I told Mac that I could play the piano. It was at this point where I met a musician known as Southend Bob (Bob Allbut) who was the first jazz musician that I acquainted myself with and I used to go and watch his fantastic ‘one man band’ shows regularly at the Jolly Cricketers. Bob used to put some jazz numbers into his program and I was immediately attracted to the jazz numbers above anything else he played. I can remember always getting quite drunk on these evenings and also treating Bob to his favourite tipple, a Teachers whiskey – happy memories!

One day Mac decided to borrow an old piano from The Castle pub in Wickford and used the services of the local gypsies and a horse box to transport the piano to the Jolly Cricketers for me to play to his great delight and of course to the punters who thought this was rather novel. After a couple of these musical evenings at the Jolly Cricketers, Mac told me that he used to run a bar at a club called The Rainbows End in Stanford-Le-Hope and there was a weekly traditional jazz club on a Sunday night. Mac arranged to take me to the Rainbows End one Sunday back in 1992 as he thought I would love jazz. He said he “knew a bloke” who might let me sit in with the band one night, although the thought of this to me at the time was totally daunting.

The Rainbows End was a large hall with a bar at one side of the dance floor and there was a huge (rather tatty) stage but featuring some of the greatest traditional jazz musicians from Essex and visiting jazz musicians from other parts of the country. The audience was as keen as the musicians and would be seen every Sunday drinking up the atmosphere and the musical collaboration given at these Sunday concerts. However, Mac arranged and took me one Sunday night to the Rainbows End and introduced me to a cockney man who managed the sessions called Ray Davis. Ray finally agreed after Mac persuaded him to let me ‘sit in’ with the band. I can remember as if it was yesterday Ray seriously warning me and waggling his finger “if you are s**t son, they’ll ask you to get down after one number”. Well this comment certainly didn’t put me at ease, but made me determined to prove him wrong. I can remember having to nervously wait through the interval to be called up to sit in with the band. Eventually the time came; I was called up to the stage and sat nervously at the black upright piano not having a clue about any jazz tunes. All of a sudden, a chair was pulled up next to me at the piano and the banjo player asked me if I knew chords on the piano of which I did, so the chords were called out to me by Hugh Rainey as he played superbly on his banjo. I can remember the trumpet player being Dennis Fields and the tune that he picked for me to play on my debut was Bix Beiderbecke’s Riverboat Shuffle (not the easiest tune for a first timer!) but that was Dennis all over as I discovered in later years. Sadly, Ray who devoted so much to British Jazz in organising these memorable concerts and giving me my jazz opportunity sadly passed away in June 2008.

It was at this point that my acquaintance with Hugh Rainey seemed to gather speed as Hugh immediately invited me to sit in with his band at a pub called the Spread Eagle at Margaretting. Hughs band had been playing in the village of Margetting since 1970 when he formed the Hugh Rainey Jazz Band at the Red Lion pub and then later moved to the Spread Eagle. I used to go along to the Spread Eagle on Tuesday evenings to listen to his band and learn the tunes. I was always invited to sit-in with the band in the second half of the session and busk along at the piano using Hugh’s chords books as my guide.

I also remember going along to the Towngate Theatre in Basildon one Sunday lunchtime and sat in with a band lead by the late well known Essex jazz musician Bertie Durrant. Derek Pring (now Hugh Rainey’s bassist) was playing Sousaphone and I was invited to join in, so I nipped home and quickly returned with my rather large digital piano and joined in the rest of their session.

Eventually, Hugh’s trombonist the late Ian Holmes suggested to Hugh that I join the band. Hugh asked me one evening after the Tuesday session and I was honoured to do so. I remember being paid £7 in odd coins and the band was provided with sandwiches at the end of the session as part payment. From then on at the age of 21, I played every Tuesday at the Spread Eagle until a change of management meant the band moved temporarily to the White Horse at Widford near Chelmsford. The band at that point consisted of me on piano, Hugh Rainey trumpet, Jack Clifford reeds, Dave Petty reeds, Terry Godwin banjo and guitar, Ian Holmes trombone, John Baker drums and Arthur Bird double bass. The superb vocalist Lyn Falvey was also a member of the band for jazz clubs and private functions.

We needed a piano at the White Horse so this was immediately sourced and supplied by Robbie Page where we collected (dragged) this piano through the sash window of the Old Ship Inn at Heybridge Basin near Maldon. The piano was put (humped) on to the back of an open back truck with me playing it for a short while as we drove it to the White Horse.
My first private engagement with the Hugh Rainey Jazz Band took me to the ball room of the Roebuck Hotel in Buckhurst Hill where Hugh had played annually for the Rosslyn Ladies Cycling Club new years dinner and dance. I think I must have done that gig for about 13 or 14 years with Hugh’s band. Sadly the Roebuck has now been demolished to make way for new housing but those memories of that yearly event live on.

Since May 1998, the Hugh Rainey Jazz Band plays every Tuesday at the Lodge Country Inn near Battles Bridge, but with the sad loss of our trombone player Ian Holmes and reeds man Dave Petty they were superseded with George Tidiman and Brian Hart respectively. Les Handscombe is currently our full time trombonist as George Tidiman decided to quite rightly live in Spain for 6 months of the year. Arthur Bird and Lyn Falvey decided to retire from the band and work locally in Kent although they sometimes appear with the band as special guests. Derek Pring replaced Arthur Bird on bass and also plays superb tuba and sousaphone with the band.

In addition to playing in Hugh Rainey's band, I have worked a considerable amount with the well known british trombonist George 'Kid' Tidiman and a memorable band of George's that I was honoured to appeared in was his Kid Tidiman's Ory Band where played in the style of New Orleans trombonist Edward 'Kid' Ory. This band was formed of George Tidiman on trombone, Hugh Rainey on Trumpet, Pete Lay on Drums, Graham Wiseman on Double Bass, Pete Gregg on Guitar and Charlie Connor on Clarinet and Soprano Saxahone. This band took us to many jazz clubs and festivals in the country and each session truly gave off that Ory magic and along with Georges colourful sense of humour and skill in entertaining the audience, the Ory band was a big hit. George also assisted me along with Hugh in my learning of jazz and was also kind enough to record and produce two recordings of me playing solo piano on CD's called Dave Browning at Home and Baby Makes Three of which there was only 200 of each title made and sold almost instantly as a 'one off'.