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There were many sad things about the death of Kenny Graham in 1997, one of the minor tragedies being that it ended his reports, previously issued at a clip of one per decade, on what "the millionaire <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatles</a>" were up to. Graham's caustic, alternately amusing and reactionary short essays were just one facet of his creativity, expressed on a selection of woodwind instruments until health issues forced him to concentrate on composing and arranging. Graham was also a progressive jazz bandleader on the British jazz scene, introducing his own take on Afro-Cuban jazz as early as 1950 with <a href="spotify:artist:6JauC4DrCRymDVvdslzBOC">Kenny Graham's Afro-Cubists</a>. The latter outfit's stylistic experiments were eventually too much for the public at large, whose abandonment of jazz as a popular music was one of Graham's pet peeves. He came up on the dance band scene, working with popular bandleaders such as <a href="spotify:artist:0iKiwo4LTF4E2EsJwcNZyF">Ambrose</a>, but had no patience for the self-contained electric rock & roll combos who would lure the dancers away.
Graham's first instrument was banjo, supposedly putty in his hands at the tender age of five. From there he went to a combination of tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute, while also doing some choir singing. As a player, his main period of activity was the '50s. After his hospitalization in 1958, he began working on charts for bandleaders such as <a href="spotify:artist:4v8G8fM1P0Nrn9nZZW0ziT">Ted Heath</a> and was also involved as music director for sessions by famed blues performers <a href="spotify:artist:6HwigzRpuWoCZDqMOQc5eu">Big Bill Broonzy</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0nZxdWJcomHivMW1UwCKQb">Josh White</a>. The British <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MGM%22">MGM</a> label released an LP of Graham's own music entitled Moondog and Suncat Suites, sometimes mistaken for a Cat Stevens effort. Many of Graham's essays are available on a website under his name. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi
Graham's first instrument was banjo, supposedly putty in his hands at the tender age of five. From there he went to a combination of tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute, while also doing some choir singing. As a player, his main period of activity was the '50s. After his hospitalization in 1958, he began working on charts for bandleaders such as <a href="spotify:artist:4v8G8fM1P0Nrn9nZZW0ziT">Ted Heath</a> and was also involved as music director for sessions by famed blues performers <a href="spotify:artist:6HwigzRpuWoCZDqMOQc5eu">Big Bill Broonzy</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0nZxdWJcomHivMW1UwCKQb">Josh White</a>. The British <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MGM%22">MGM</a> label released an LP of Graham's own music entitled Moondog and Suncat Suites, sometimes mistaken for a Cat Stevens effort. Many of Graham's essays are available on a website under his name. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi
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