Diz Disley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William C. Disley (known as Diz Disley) (27 May 1931) is a Canadian/British jazz guitarist and graphic designer. He is best known for his jazz guitar playing, strongly influenced by Django Reinhardt, and for his collaborations with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Disley was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but was brought up in Wales and northern England. In his childhood, he learnt to play the banjo, but took up the jazz guitar at the age of 14, after hearing the playing of Django Reinhardt.

Karl Dallas [1]wrote:

Diz himself studied art in Leeds, but he'd played music since he was 12, starting with chords of "Miss Annabelle Lee" in A on the ukelele, living in Ingleton in the Dales. It was a good year for music at Leeds College of Art... Diz was playing banjo in the college band, the Vernon Street Ramblers, and he was asked to join the slightly more prestigious Yorkshire Jazz Band, which brought him to London and the Mick Mulligan-George Melly rave-ups.

Dallas reported that later, Diz played in Ken Colyer's band.

In the sleeve notes for "i got rhythm" (1974) Alun Morgan writes:

Guitarist Diz Disley leads the Hot Club Trio and has been prominent in British jazz circles since the end of the nineteen-forties. Disley played banjo with the famed Yorkshire Jazz Band in 1949 and 1950 at a time when the band had Dickie Hawdon on trumpet... Disley formed his String Quintet in 1958 with a library based largely on that of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France ; Diz's companion on many of the sessions was guitarist Denny Wright and the two have remained firm friends.

In the 1970s, he was influential in persuading Stéphane Grappelli to return to playing public performances. They played together at the Cambridge Folk Festival and this began a lengthy collaboration between Disley and Grappelli, including tours of Australia, Europe and the USA. Karl Dallas[2] reported Diz as having "single-handedly created a revival of interest in the music of Stephane Grappelli, which has taken him to the Carnegie Hall, Australia and New Zealand" (the latter in September 1974). "...the night he closed at the Palladium, he went to the Troubadour where he was booked later that night to perform his folk club act of idiocy and mayhem, keeping up the tradition he has built up over the past 20 years for delivering a shrewd mixture of musical brilliance and vocal insanity".

Regarding the stories in George Melly's book, Dallas quoted Diz as saying "Oh they're true. Everything in George's book is true. In fact they didn't print the best things."

[edit] Partial discography

[edit] Diz Disley

  • Live at the White Bear
  • Diz Disley & the Downbeats: Django's Castle/Wot Cher!(Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road), Parlophone 1961
  • Eee! What A Whopper (Surprise - ILP 1015 - 1965)

[edit] Dave Swarbrick, Martin Carthy and Diz Disley

  • Rags, Reels & Airs (1967), Topic

[edit] Sandy Denny

Sandy plays and sings with: Pat Donaldson, Gerry Conway (musician), Dave Pegg, Dave Mattacks, Danny Thompson, Alan Skidmore, Ian Armit, Jean Roussel, Jerry Donahue, Trevor Lucas, Richard Thompson (musician), Diz Disley & Rabbit

[edit] Stephane Grappelli with the Hot Club of London

  • i got rhythm!

with Diz Dizley, Denny Wright and Len Skeat, recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 5th November 1973. Recording Engineer: Robin Sedgley. By arrangement with BBC Enterprises. Black Lion Records Ltd. 1974

[edit] Stephane Grappelli & The Diz Disley Trio

  • Live at Corby Festival Hall (1975)
  • Shades of Django (1989), MPS Records
  • Live At The Cambridge Folk Festival (2000)
  • Violinspiration, (2006), Verve Records

[edit] Links

Quintette du Hot Club de France, French Wikipedia link: [1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Karl Dallas, Melody Maker July 27th, 1974, "Disley - still making whoopee"
  2. ^ Karl Dallas, Melody Maker July 27, 1974, "Disley - still making whoopee"