Cyril Blake

This article is about the jazz trumpeter. For the fictional character, see On the Buses.

Cyril "Midnight" Blake (22 October 1900 – 3 December 1951) was a Trinidadian jazz trumpeter.

Biography

Born in Trinidad, Blake first showed interest in music by taking up the banjo and guitar while visiting relatives in New York. Reaching England as a stowaway in 1916 he served in the merchant navy for several years. From 1921 he played guitar in a British group called the Southern Syncopated Orchestra. In 1923 he married Olive Douglas in Manchester.[1]

Blake worked at various clubs in Paris and London throughout the 1920s, changing his instrument to trumpet. In 1928 he toured Europe with Thompson’s Negro Band.[2] In the 1930s he played in the band of his drummer brother George 'Happy' Blake - a regular at the Shim Shim Club - and with the pianist Jack London. Blake also played in bands led by Leon Abbey, the clarinetist Rudolph Dunbar, Leslie Thompson, Joe Appleton, and Lauderic Caton.[3]

In 1938 he formed his own band, which was centred on Jig's Club in London's Soho, where live performances were recorded several times, showing a growing involvement in African-Caribbean music.[4] In the 1940s Blake led his band behind Lord Kitchener for recordings on Parlophone Records, playing in a calypso style.[5] He played at a succession of clubs, including the Bag O'Nails (1942), Havana Club (1942), Barbarina (1942-3), Panama (1946) and Blue Lagoon (1948).[1]

Late in his life he returned to Trinidad, where he continued as a bandleader.[3] Returning to guitar, Blake led his own Calyspo Serenaders in 1950. He died in 1951.[2]

According to Dave Haslam, Cyril and his brother George significantly influenced the course of British jazz by introducing calypso and Latin American influences.[6]

External links

• Cyril Blake at Allmusic

References

1. John Chilton. Who's Who in British Jazz (1996), p. 32-33
2. Obituary, Melody Maker, 8 December 1951, p.7
3. John Cowley, and Howard Rye. 'Blake, Cyril (Macdonald) [Midnight]', in Grove Music Online (2002)
4. for instance, 'Cyril’s Blues/Frolic Sam', Regal-Zonophone MR3597 (1941)
5. Anthology of British Vintage Jazz, Volume 3, Ihor Records (2010)
6. Dave Haslam. Life After Dark: A History of British Nightclubs and Music Venues (2015)