Ray Foxley

Ray "Professor " Foxley ( born December 28, 1928 in Birmingham as Raymond Geoffrey Foxley, † July 7 2002 in London) was a British jazz pianist and arranger, best known for his collaboration with British protagonists of Traditional Jazz as Ken Colyer and Chris Barber been.

Foxley began at age 14 under the influence of the music of Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton's " King Porter Stomp " to be interested in early jazz, played in various smaller ensembles of his native city until he joined the gutbucket Six, in 1947 at the Festival " Jazz at the Birmingham Town Hall " occurred. Then he founded the Levee Ramblers, with whom he also had radio appearances, and in 1952 appeared in Paris. The mid-1950s he moved to London and became a member of Ken Colyer Crane River Jazz Band to then play in Mick Mulligan, Chris Barber and Mike Daniels before he worked with Colyer Jazzmen and its Skiffleband. In 1960 he returned to the Midlands and was stylistically open, as he appeared in the context of modern jazz. In the 1980s he played with Henry Gardiner and the Southsiders, Rod Mason (for which he also wrote arrangements ), Ken Ingram and The Paragon Jazz Band. After the death Colyer he belonged to the Ken Colyer Trust tape. He also worked with The Jubilee Jazzmen and Eddie Matthews 's jump band. In recent years he has predominantly been as a solo pianist. He was also appreciated by avant-gardists such as Lol Coxhill and Roger Turner.

Disco Graphical Notes

• Six for Two ( Jeton, 1979)
• Professor Foxley 's Sporting House Music ( Jeton, 1978)