George Webb

(8 October 1917 – 10 March 2010) Acknowledged to be the father of the postwar traditional jazz revival in Britain, serving as an inspiration to, and frequent band member with, the trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton.

Webb "worked as a machine gun fitter in the Vickers-Armstrong factory at Crayford. The son of a former music hall artiste turned fishmonger, he was a keen jazz enthusiast and self-taught amateur pianist. He took it upon himself to organize lunchtime entertainment at the factory, assembling scratch bands from among the workers.

The movement Webb created, which grew steadily in the late 1940s, led directly to the "trad boom" of the late 1950s and early 1960s in which he also played a leading part, first as pianist and bandleader.

He grew up with a love of early jazz recordings, principally those made by the New Orleans musicians; and in his playing he tried to re-create the style of such bands as King Oliver's.

With his band, George Webb's Dixielanders, he played regularly and famously at The Red Barn public house at Barnehurst, Kent, from the early 1940s.

Among the musicians who played in the band at various times were the great British jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton, Wally Fawkes the clarinettist and Eddie Harvey the trombonist.

In later life, as well as continuing to play, George was also a promoter of jazz festivals.

References

^ a b "George Webb:jazz pianist". The Times. 2010-03-15. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7062922.ece. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "George Webb". Daily Telegraph. 2010-03-14. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/7442993/George-Webb.html. Retrieved 2010-03-17.

Name: George H Webb

• Event Type: Birth Registration
• Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
• Registration Year: 1917
• Registration District: Camberwell, County: London
• Event Place: Camberwell, London, England
• Mother's Maiden Name: Toye

"England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FBW-2VK : 1 October 2014), George H Webb, 1917; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Camberwell, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.

Name: Mr George Horace Webb

• Event Type: Death
• Event Date: 10 Mar 2010
• Event Place: Belvedere, Kent, England, United Kingdom
• Event Place (Original): Belvedere, Kent, England
• Residence Postal Code: DA17 6
• Age: 93
• Birth Date: 8 Oct 1917
• Source Postal Code: DA17

"England Death Records, 1998-2015", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CGKT-ZZ6Z : 15 April 2020), Mr George Horace Webb, 2010.