Pasadena Roof Orchestra


The Pasadena Roof Orchestra is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed since 1969, although the line-up has frequently changed. It has achieved success outside the United Kingdom, most notably in Germany.

Brief history

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed in its current form since 1969, although the line-up has frequently changed. It has achieved success outside of the United Kingdom, most notably in Germany.
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra was so named in November 1969 by John Arthy, a baker who played the double bass and sousaphone, and who had taken over the Creole Dance Orchestra in which he played bass and sousaphone, from Chris Macdonald, its founder. Arthy purchased a cache of original musical arrangements dating from the 1920s stored in the attic of a lady in Manchester, and the strength of this find reinvigorated the flagging fortunes of the earlier band. The new name of the band was inspired by Harry Warren's "Home in Pasadena". There had been a strong revival movement for music of the 1920s in the late 1950s and early 1960s ; however, Arthy continued to move this band in a different direction to most of the revivalists, away from humour and towards more serious, dedicated renditions of the music.
The orchestra's first vocalist was John "Pazz" Parry, an old friend of Arthy's. With the injection of the new arrangements, Arthy as Bandleader, also performing on the double bass and sousaphone, the PRO soon grew in popularity.
The orchestra became professional in 1975. Their first LP for Transatlantic was recorded in August 1974 and released in December of that year, premiering at the Midem music fair in Cannes in 1975. The orchestra followed this by touring West Germany in the Autumn of that year.
The orchestra toured the United States in 1993 and 2001.
They have worked with musical luminaries such as Robbie Williams and Bryan Ferry.
Although John Arthy retired in 1997, the band continues to tour extensively and record with bandleader and singer Duncan Galloway. In 2009, the orchestra toured Great Britain and Germany.

Orchestra members

Whilst literally hundreds of the UK's finest jazz musicians have on occasion performed with the Orchestra, this is a timeline of the regular members.

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id:voc value:red legend:Vocals
id:vt value:yelloworange legend:Vocal_Trio
id:alt1 value:lightpurple legend:Alto_1_/_Clar._/_Bari.
id:alt2 value:purple legend:Alto_2_/_Clar.
id:ten value:magenta legend:Tenor_/_Clar.
id:tpt1 value:oceanblue legend:Trumpet_1
id:tpt2 value:blue legend:Trumpet_2
id:tbn value:darkblue legend:Trombone
id:pno value:teal legend:Piano
id:gtr value:kelleygreen legend:Guitar_/_Banjo
id:bs value:redorange legend:Bass_/_Sousa
id:dr value:claret legend:Drums
id:vln value:tan2 legend:Violin
id:eng value:gray legend:Sound_Eng.
id:rec value:black legend:Recording
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at:07/05/1972 #Stomp Records ROBB 008
at:25/08/1974 #Transatlantic TRA286, BIG521 and Metronome 0900.091
at:01/10/1974 #Transatlantic BIG521, TEP1
at:01/05/1975 #Transatlantic TRA 301 and Metronome 0900.091
at:05/12/1975 #Transatlantic TRA314 and Metronome 0064.018
at:01/09/1976 #Transatlantic TRA335
at:21/09/1976 #Transatlantic TEP1
at:15/07/1977 #Metronome 0064.010
at:01/04/1978 #CBS 82751
at:12/09/1978 #Metronome 0030.304
at:01/12/1978 #CBS 83220
at:01/07/1979 #Metronome 0900.179
at:01/07/1980 #Metronome 0030.304
at:22/08/1981 #Aves/Intercord 146.540
at:01/06/1983 #Reward Records FW39135
at:27/07/1984 #Pasadena Records ARC-1018
at:11/09/1986 #CD PRO 1
at:01/08/1988 #Polydor CD LP Cass
at:28/06/1989 #CD PRO 2 Live at Salisbury Playhouse
at:16/05/1991 #CD PRO 3
at:05/11/1992 #Kavan Records CD81911 Copenhagen
at:26/11/1992 #Kavan VHS9356 Live at Falconer Theatre with Swing Sisters
at:01/11/1993 #CD PRO 4 and Kavan Records CD81353
at:01/05/1996 #CD PRO 5
at:30/07/1998 #CD PRO 6
at:22/08/1999 #DVD PRO Live in Regents Park
at:28/03/2002 #CD PRO 7
at:06/11/2007 #CD PRO 8
at:26/02/2010 #Licensed to Swing
at:10/03/2011 #Christmas Album
at:20/06/2013 #Ladies and Gentlemen
at:08/05/2016 #Live in London
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  1. vocals
bar:John 'Pazz' Parry from:start till:31/12/1978 color:voc #end guess from discography
bar:Robin Merrill from:01/01/1979 till:31/12/1988 color:voc #start and end guess from discography
bar:Duncan Galloway from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1994 color:voc #start and end guess from discography
bar:James Langton from:01/01/1995 till:31/12/2001 color:voc #start and end guess from discography
bar:Duncan Galloway from:01/01/2002 till:end color:voc #start guess from discography
bar:Louise Cookman from:01/02/2002 till:01/02/2008 color:voc #VERIFIED LC email
  1. alto 1
bar:Josephine Gurr from:start till:31/03/1972 color:alt1 #end guess from Chris Macdonald's History of the Creole Dance Orchestra / PRO
bar:Andrew Pummell from:01/04/1972 till:30/06/1997 color:alt1 #end guess from discography
bar:Nicholas Payton from:01/07/1997 till:31/12/2002 color:alt1 #start and end guess from discography
bar:Steve Kaldestad from:01/01/2003 till:31/12/2007 color:alt1 #start guess from discography
bar:Robert Fowler from:01/01/2008 till:end color:alt1 #VERIFIED RF verbal
  1. alto 2
bar:Ken Hughes from:start till:30/09/1975 color:alt2 #end guess from discography
bar:Mac White from:01/10/1975 till:23/09/1981 color:alt2 #start guess from discography
bar:Alan Barnes from:24/09/1981 till:23/01/1983 color:alt2 #VERIFIED AB email
bar:Keith Gemmell from:24/01/1983 till:30/06/1996 color:alt2
bar:Keith Gemmell from:01/01/1984 till:30/06/1996 color:vt width:3
bar:Paul Jones from:01/10/1999 till:30/09/2003 color:alt2 #start verified PJ email, end guess from discography
bar:Dai Pritchard from:01/04/2004 till:end color:alt2 #VERIFIED DP email
  1. tenor
bar:Chris Macdonald from:start till:31/08/1974 color:ten #VERIFIED CM
bar:Clive Payne from:01/09/1974 till:30/09/1975 color:ten #end guess from discography
bar:Frank White from:01/10/1975 till:31/12/1984 color:ten #start and end guess from discography
bar:Howard Turner from:01/01/1985 till:31/07/1986 color:ten #start guess from discography
bar:Robert Fowler from:01/08/1986 till:30/06/1996 color:ten #VERIFIED RF verbal
bar:Keith Gemmell from:01/07/1996 till:31/12/1997 color:ten #end guess from discography
bar:James Scannell from:01/01/1998 till:31/08/2001 color:ten #start guess from discography
bar:Oliver Wilby from:01/09/2001 till:end color:ten #VERIFIED OW verbal
  1. trumpet 1
bar:Tony Cooke from:start till:30/11/1974 color:tpt1 #end guess from discography
bar:Derek Wood from:01/01/1975 till:30/06/1975 color:tpt1 #start and end guess from discography
bar:Jeff Evans from:01/07/1975 till:30/06/1976 color:tpt1 #start and end guess from discography
bar:Clive Baker from:01/07/1976 till:31/12/1983 color:tpt1 #start and end guess from discography
bar:Clive Baker from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1983 color:vt width:3
bar:Mike 'Magic' Henry from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1990 color:tpt1 #VERIFIED MH email
bar:Malcolm Baxter from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1995 color:tpt1 #DF suggests until 1995
bar:David Ford from:01/01/1995 till:end color:tpt1 #VERIFIED DF email
  1. trumpet 2
bar:Jake Spalding from:start till:30/06/1972 color:tpt2
bar:Mike Durston from:01/07/1972 till:30/06/1973 color:tpt2 #approximate dates from Derek Jones email
bar:David Manning from:01/07/1973 till:31/12/1974 color:tpt2 #start and end guess from discography
bar:George Burt from:01/01/1975 till:30/04/1976 color:tpt2 #start and end guess from discography
bar:John Malam from:01/05/1976 till:30/09/1978 color:tpt2 #start guess from discography
bar:Mike 'Magic' Henry from:01/10/1978 till:01/01/1984 color:tpt2 #VERIFIED MH email note 1984 same date as Rico joined
bar:Enrico Tomasso from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1994 color:tpt2 #end guess from discography
bar:Danny Hammerton from:01/01/1995 till:01/03/2003 color:tpt2 #DF suggests from 1995 DG suggests until 03/2003
bar:Ben Cummings from:05/04/2005 till:15/03/2009 color:tpt2 #VERIFIED BC email
bar:Malcolm Baxter from:16/03/2009 till:end color:tpt2 #VERIFIED
  1. trombone
bar:Bob Renvoize from:start till:31/12/1987 color:tbn #end guess from discography
bar:Steve Shaw from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/2010 color:tbn #start guess from discography
bar:Steve Shaw from:01/07/1996 till:01/01/2010 color:vt width:3
bar:Andy Hillier from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2010 color:tbn
bar:Andy Hillier from:01/01/2010 till:31/12/2010 color:vt width:3
bar:Adrian Fry from:01/03/2011 till:end color:tbn #VERIFIED DG band email
bar:Adrian Fry from:01/03/2011 till:end color:vt width:3 #VERIFIED AF verbal
  1. piano
bar:Mike Baskerville from:start till:30/06/1971 color:pno #end guess from discography
bar:Tom Colbert from:01/07/1971 till:30/06/1972 color:pno #start and end guess from discography
bar:John Harrop from:01/07/1972 till:30/06/1973 color:pno #approximate dates from Derek Jones email
bar:Stan Ivison from:01/07/1973 till:30/09/1975 color:pno #start and end guess from discography
bar:Hugh Ledigo from:01/10/1975 till:30/06/1976 color:pno #start and end guess from discography
bar:Peter Durrent from:01/07/1976 till:31/12/1979 color:pno #start and end guess from discography
bar:Mike Holmes from:01/01/1980 till:12/03/1992 color:pno #start guess from discography
bar:Mike Holmes from:01/01/1981 till:12/03/1992 color:vt width:3
bar:Simon Townley from:13/03/1992 till:end color:pno #VERIFIED ST verbal
bar:Simon Townley from:13/03/1992 till:end color:vt width:3
  1. guitar / banjo
bar:Bill Triggs from:start till:30/06/1971 color:gtr #end guess from discography
bar:John Bright from:01/07/1971 till:30/09/1975 color:gtr #start and end guess from discography
bar:Albert Sadler from:01/07/1971 till:31/12/1976 color:gtr #start and end guess from discography
bar:John Barron from:01/01/1977 till:30/06/1987 color:gtr #start and end guess from discography
bar:Peter Warren from:01/07/1987 till:30/09/1990 color:gtr #start guess from discography
bar:Graham Roberts from:01/10/1990 till:01/08/1999 color:gtr #VERIFIED GR email
bar:Andrew Kuc from:01/08/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:gtr
bar:Tom 'Spats' Langham from:01/01/2002 till:01/09/2007 color:gtr
bar:Graham Roberts from:01/09/2007 till:01/10/2013 color:gtr #VERIFIED GR email
bar:Tom 'Spats' Langham from:01/01/2014 till:end color:gtr
  1. bass / sousa
bar:John Arthy from:start till:30/06/1997 color:bs #VERIFIED
bar:David Berry from:01/07/1997 till:end color:bs #VERIFIED DB verbal
  1. drums
bar:Barry Tyler from:start till:31/12/1971 color:dr #end guess from discography
bar:Derek Jones from:01/01/1972 till:31/12/1977 color:dr #start and end guess from discography
bar:Stephen Foster from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1978 color:dr #start and end guess from discography
bar:Peter Coulcher from:01/01/1979 till:31/12/1979 color:dr #verbal from Robert Fowler and Tom Langham
bar:John Sutton from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2006 color:dr #start guess from discography
bar:John Watson from:19/01/2006 till:16/12/2012 color:dr #VERIFIED JW email
bar:John Sutton from:01/01/2013 till:28/01/2015 color:dr
bar:Dominic Sales from:28/01/2015 till:end color:dr #VERIFIED DG band email
  1. violin
bar:Peter Beresford from:start till:31/12/1974 color:vln #end guess from discography
bar:Barrie Williams from:01/01/1975 till:01/04/1977 color:vln #start and end guess from discography
  1. sound
bar:Simon Wingfield from:01/01/1986 till:31/12/1995 color:eng #dates suggested by Derek Jones
bar:Thorsten Merriott from:01/12/1996 till:end color:eng #VERIFIED conversation with TM

Discography

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra

Vinyl

In 2003 the Pasadena Roof Orchestra released a DVD of the 30th Anniversary live concert at Regent's Park, London, with guests. This DVD is only available in Region 2 format.
This DVD is the first release to feature a double sided DVD which plays in colour and digital stereo on one side and in sepia-toned monochrome, with Phonograph style mono audio, on the other.
In August 2005 another DVD, Dance the Night Away appeared, but only in Region 1 format. This DVD was not sanctioned by the orchestra and was recorded from a 1979 German TV show.

Appearances