Jack Sels
| Jack Sels | |
|---|---|
Sels (Rotterdam, 1960). Trumpet: Ado Broodboom
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| Born |
29 January 1922 Berchem (near Antwerp), Belgium |
| Died | 21 March 1970 (aged 48) Antwerp, Belgium |
| Nationality | Belgium |
| Occupation | saxophonist |
Jean-Jacques (Jack) Sels (29 January 1922 – 21 March 1970) was a Belgian jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is now considered to be one of the most remarkable Belgian post-war jazz saxophonists. Although he left only a few records, he was definitely an influential figure for the Belgian scene.
Jack Sels grew up in Antwerp. As a teenager he started collecting jazz records. Due to a substantial inheritance from his father his collection grew to about 10,000 records, but it was destroyed during a Second World War bombing. After first having studied piano he taught himself playing the tenor saxophone. To earn a living, he worked in an ice cream parlour in the Antwerp Hoogstraat (High Street) and spent much time listening to his jazz idols, among them the tenor saxophonist Lester Young, trumpeters Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. After the Second World War many American and Canadian soldiers arrived in the port of Antwerp and Jack Sels loved to talk to them and listen to the new records they brought with them from the United States. It also enabled him to further expand his record collection.
The arrival of Dizzy Gillespie’s big band at Antwerp in 1948 made a lasting impression on Jack Sels and he decided to start his own big band for which he would also write the music. The band made an impressive debut with some of the best musicians of that time. On trumpet: Paul Heyndrickx, Charlie Knegtel, Theo Mertens, Herman and Nick Sandy Fissette; on trombone: Nat Peck, Frans Van Dijk, Jan Mertens and Christian Kellens; on Sax: Jay Cameron, Marcel Peeters, Gene Verstrepen, Bobby Jaspar and Roger Asselberghs plus Jean Warland on bass, Francis Coppieters on piano, John Ward on drums, Rudy Frankel on conga and Vilez Bill on bongo drum. But because of financial and other problems it was hard for him to hold such a big band together. In 1951, he formed a smaller band with 15 musicians, modelled after his idol Miles Davis, and later a still smaller group with which he toured in Germany. Back in Belgium, in 1954, he recorded six tracks in boogy style for Ronnex Records and performed on stage with Nat King Cole.
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