Keith Nichols

Keith Nichols
Born(1945-02-13)13 February 1945
OriginIlford, Essex, England
Died20 January 2021(2021-01-20) (aged 75)
London, England
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)piano, trombone, reeds, accordion
LabelsStomp Off

Keith Nichols (13 February 1945 – 21 January 2021)[1] was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist and arranger, a player of the piano, trombone, reeds, and accordion.

Biography

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Born in Ilford, Essex, England,[2] Nichols was a child actor and an award-winning accordionist in his youth. He began by playing ragtime tunes, gaining notice in the 1970s in London when forming the band New Sedalia.[2] Nichols also formed the Ragtime Orchestra in the mid-1970s,[2] along with Mo Morris, Richard Warner and Paul Nossiter. Nichols recorded and gigged with Bing Crosby, and Dick Sudhalter[3] during this period. Over time, he moved on to Dixieland jazz, Swing, and orchestral Jazz, including the oeuvres of Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington.[2]

Nichols was also a frequent sideman for the EMI record label and an arranger for the New York Jazz Repertory Company, Dick Hyman and the Pasadena Roof Orchestra.[2] In 1978, he helped lead the Midnite Follies Orchestra[3] with Alan Cohen. Other artists Nichols worked with include Digby Fairweather, Harry Gold, Richard Pite and Claus Jacobi. He died of while contracting COVID-19 COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom while being treated for another condition on 21 January 2021, at The Royal London Hospital.[4]

Discography

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Paramount Theatre Orchestra (1984) (LP, Stomp Off)

  • Lolly Pops

Dreamland Syncopators

  • Territory Jazz (1987) (LP, Stomp Off)

Julian Vincent and Keith Nichols

  • Morton to Mozart (1989) (CD, Poppy HXP012)

Keith Nichols' Cotton Club Gang and Janice Day with Guy Barker

  • I Like To Do Things For You (1991) (CD, Stomp Off)[3]

Keith Nichols and the Cotton Club Orchestra

  • Syncopated Jamboree (1991) (CD, Stomp Off CD 1242)
  • Henderson Stomp (1993) (CD, Stomp Off CD 1234)[3]
  • Harlem's Arabian Nights (1997) (CD, Stomp Off CD 130)[3]

Keith Nichols' Little Devils

  • The Charmful Little Armful (2003) (PEK)[3]

Keith Nichols and the Blue Devils

  • Kansas City Breakdown (2004) (CD, Stomp Off CD 1387)[3]

Keith Nichols' Earthbound Spirits

  • Harlem Madness (2004) (CD, PKCD-237)[3]

Keith Nichols' Collegians

  • Collegiate Rhythm (2006) (CD, PEK PKCD-299)[3]

Mike Lovell and Keith Nichols

  • Dixieland at the Thornton Little Theatre (2006) (CD, PEK)[3]

Keith Nichols' Jazz Artists and Northern Sinfonia

Thomas "Spats" Langham / Keith Nichols / Richard Pite

  • London Omnibus (2010) (Jazz Repertory Company)

The Nichols-Duffee International Jazz Orchestra

  • One More Time (2013) (CD, Lake)[3]

References

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  1. ^ "RIP Keith Nichols (1945-2021)". Londonjazznews.com. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1826. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Yanow, Scott. "Keith Nichols: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  4. ^ Bebco, Joe. "British Bandleader Keith Nichols has died. – The Syncopated Times". Syncopatedtimes.com. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
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