Jump to content

Len Skeat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Len Skeat
Len Skeat at Upwell Jazz Club, 2020
Len Skeat at Upwell Jazz Club, 2020
Background information
Birth nameLeonard Skeat
Born(1937-02-09)9 February 1937
East London, England
Died9 March 2021(2021-03-09) (aged 84)
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentDouble bass
Years active1960s–2021

Leonard Skeat (9 February 1937 – 9 March 2021) was a British[1] jazz double-bassist, and the younger brother of Bill Skeat, a saxophone player (1926–1999).[2][3]

Biography

[edit]

He was born in East End of London, and worked with the Ted Heath band.[2] During the 1970s, he was in demand and almost resident at the Pizza Express Jazz Club,[2] and Pizza on the Park Jazz Club (closed 2010) in London. He was a member of the band, Velvet.[4]

Skeat recorded with Mel Tormé, Ben Webster, Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, Scott Hamilton, Helen Merrill, Lou Rawls, Harry Edison, Denny Wright, Digby Fairweather, Spike Robinson, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Stéphane Grappelli,[5] Dick Morrissey, Bill Watrous, and Randy Sandke. He was also a member of the Eddie Thompson Trio and Charly Antolini's Jazz Power.

Discography

[edit]

With Charly Antolini

With Bud Freeman

  • 1980 The Dolphin Has A Message

With Spike Robinson

  • 1984 Spike Robinson-Eddie Thompson Trip/At Chesters Volumes 1 & 2 (Hep)
  • 1986 In Town with Elaine Delmar (Hep)
  • 1987 The Gershwin Collection (Hep)

With Bill Watrous

  • 1982 Bill Watrous in London

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "RIP Len Skeat (1937 -2021)". Londonjazznews.com. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 400. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
  3. ^ Len Skeat Musical Biography Jazzsteps.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  4. ^ Len Skeat Biography, AllMusic. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  5. ^ Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian (2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz (3rd ed.). Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-256-9.
[edit]