Laurie Holloway

Last updated

Laurence Holloway MBE (born 31 March 1938) [1] is an English pianist, musical director and composer from Oldham, Lancashire, England. [2] In the 1970s he was the Musical Director for the singer Englebert Humperdick, and (from 1998) for the television talk show Parkinson . In 2004 he was the original MD for the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing .

Contents

Career

Laurie Holloway was born in Oldham and began playing piano at the age of four, taking his first formal lessons aged seven. Aged 12 he was the organist and choirmaster at his local church. He began performing at ballroom dances and turned professional in 1954 when he joined Syd Willmott and his Band as a pianist. He later played with Geraldo on cruise ships, with the Cyril Stapleton band, and then as a studio session musician, playing on many tracks, including on Downtown by Petula Clark with musical director Tony Hatch in 1964. He was musical director for Englebert Humperdinck from 1970 to 1975, working on his albums and touring the US, including Las Vegas. [3]

Holloway became more associated with jazz after working as musical director for the singer Cleo Laine, which soon led to him joining the John Dankworth Band as pianist and arranger. He worked with Dankworth on the 1967 album The $1,000,000,000 Collection, and on subsequent Dankworth albums. However, more studio and television work soon took over. The list of artists he has worked with includes Stephane Grappelli, Tom Jones, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr., Gilbert O’Sullivan, Mel Torme, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Lesley Garrett, Bob Monkhouse, Barry Humphries and Ronnie Corbett. [4] He composed several well-known theme tunes such as Game for a Laugh , Wicked Women , Maggie and Her , Blind Date and Beadle's About . [5] He also composed "Hook, Line and Sinker" for the 1970 LWT fishing series Casting Around.

In 1990, Holloway accompanied Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, Princess Margaret, on the piano for a recording the two made of Scottish childhood songs at Buckingham Palace for the 90th birthday of their mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. A single cassette was produced featuring a dozen songs, but the recording was lost after the Queen Mother's death. [6]

His professional association with Michael Parkinson (a Berkshire neighbor and friend) began in 1998 when be became musical director of the Parkinson chat show. He worked on the show until 2004 for BBC, and when the show transferred to ITV from 2004 to 2007. [7] Starting in 2004 he was also Musical Director for the first three series of the popular dance show Strictly Come Dancing, for which he provided many arrangements every week.

He has been awarded the Gold Badge of Merit by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters and he appeared as a subject of This Is Your Life . [8] He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to music. [9]

Personal life

Holloway was married to the singer Marion Montgomery from 1965 [5] until her death in 2002. [10] They have a daughter, Abigail (born 1967). [11] He lives in The Fisheries, Bray, Berkshire. [7]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Thornhill</span> American pianist, composer and arranger

Claude Thornhill was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He composed the jazz and pop standards "Snowfall" and "I Wish I Had You".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleo Laine</span> English jazz singer and actress (born 1927)

Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec Dankworth and singer Jacqui Dankworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sippie Wallace</span> American blues singer-songwriter (1898–1986)

Sippie Wallace was an American blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Her early career in tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by her or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas. Her accompanists included Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, and Clarence Williams. Among the top female blues vocalists of her era, Wallace ranked with Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, and Bessie Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dankworth</span> English jazz composer and musician (1927–2010)

Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE, also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he was a music educator and also her music director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Ellington</span> English singer, drummer and bandleader (1916–1985)

Henry Pitts Brown, known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on The Goon Show from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet had a regular musical segment on the show, and Ellington also had a small speaking role in many episodes, often as a parodic African, Native American or Arab chieftain.

Michael Garrick was an English jazz pianist and composer, and a pioneer in mixing jazz with poetry recitations and in the use of jazz in large-scale choral works.

Allan Anthony Ganley was an English jazz drummer and arranger.

Marion Montgomery was an American jazz singer, who lived for the majority of her life in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldo (bandleader)</span> English bandleader

Gerald Walcan Bright, better known as Geraldo, was an English bandleader. He adopted the name "Geraldo" in 1930, and became one of the most popular British dance band leaders of the 1930s with his "sweet music" and his "Gaucho Tango Orchestra". During the 1940s, he modernised his style and continued to enjoy great success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Drew</span> English jazz drummer

Martin Drew was an English jazz drummer who played with Ronnie Scott between 1975 and 1995 and with Oscar Peterson between 1974 and 2007.

Stephen Russell Race OBE was an English composer, pianist and radio and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cab Kaye</span> English jazz musician (1921–2000)

Nii-lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye, known professionally as Cab Kaye, was an English jazz singer and pianist of Ghanaian descent. He combined blues, stride piano, and scat with his Ghanaian heritage.

Kenneth John Moule was an English jazz pianist, best known as a composer and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Concorde Club</span>

The Concorde Club was launched in 1957 in Southampton by jazz aficionado Cole Mathieson, and is the oldest jazz club under the same management in the United Kingdom. Its standing in the UK jazz world has been recognised by the August 2009 award of the inaugural Blue Plaque, following a nationwide vote among jazz followers and musicians organised by the Brecon Jazz Festival. The award, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Miles Davis classic album Kind of Blue, is to honour the jazz establishment considered to have done most for the development of jazz in the United Kingdom. On August 8 2012, the club celebrated its 55th anniversary with a concert featuring the Alan Barnes All Stars during which Barnes presented an illustrated history of the Concorde. He told the capacity crowd: "There are very few businesses, let alone a jazz club, run by the same person for 55 years. Cole has done more than most to promote jazz."

Malcolm Edmonstone is a British jazz pianist and pop arranger. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he became Head of Jazz. Edmonstone provided orchestral arrangements for Gary Barlow’s 2020 album Music Played by Humans. He has conducted and arranged for the BBC Concert Orchestra numerous times for BBC Radio 2, featuring vocalists Rick Astley, Katie Melua, Mark King, Ruby Turner, Tommy Blaize, Tony Momrelle and Heather Small. In 2020 he was Music Director at the National Theatre for Tony Kushner’s adaptation of The Visit (play). In 2016 he made his BBC Proms debut, arranging and conducting for Iain Ballamy and Liane Carroll.

Jacqueline Caryl Dankworth is a British jazz singer. She is the daughter of jazz singer Cleo Laine and musician John Dankworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1927 in jazz</span> Overview of the events of 1927 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Holder (musician)</span> British musician

Frank Holder was a Guyanese jazz singer and percussionist. He was a member of bands led by Jiver Hutchinson, Johnny Dankworth and Joe Harriott.

Dave Lee is an English jazz pianist, and a former orchestra leader, music arranger, songwriter and film composer.

This is a summary of 1950 in music in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. Laurie Holloway at IMDb
  2. "Laurie Holloway". Jazzprofessional.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. 'Laurie Holloway MBE', National Jazz Archive biography
  4. Laurie Holloway biography, New Haven Publishing
  5. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1172. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  6. Ingrid Seward (2 November 2017). My Husband and I: The Inside Story of 70 Years of the Royal Marriage. Simon & Schuster UK. p. 154. ISBN   978-1-4711-5958-9.
  7. 1 2 'Michael Parkinson (1935-2023). A tribute by Laurie Holloway', in London Jazz News, 23 August 2023
  8. "AirMTM". Airmtm.com. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  9. "No. 60534". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2013. p. 18.
  10. John Fordham, "Obituary: Marion Montgomery - Minimalist jazz singer who excelled in clubs and cabaret", The Guardian , July 23, 2002.
  11. 'Jazz singer Marion Montgomery with new born baby daughter Abigail Ann Montgomery Holloway at Queen Charlotte's Hospital London. February 1967', Getty Images
  12. Maynard, Martin. "Montgomery Holloway Music Trust". Mhmt.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2020.