Kenny Ball
| Kenny Ball | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kenneth Daniel Ball |
| Born |
22 May 1930 Ilford, Essex, England, UK |
| Died | 7 March 2013 (aged 82) Basildon, Essex, England, UK |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Trumpeter, bandleader |
| Instruments | Trumpet, vocals |
| Years active | 1950s–2013 |
| Labels | Pye, Fontana; Kapp |
| Website | kennyball |
Kenneth Daniel "Kenny" Ball (22 May 1930 – 7 March 2013) was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.
Ball was born in Ilford, Essex. At the age of 14 he left school to work as a clerk in an advertising agency, but also started taking trumpet lessons. He began his career as a semi-professional sideman in bands, whilst also working as a salesman and for the advertising agency. He turned professional in 1953 and played the trumpet in bands led by Sid Phillips, Charlie Galbraith, Eric Delaney and Terry Lightfoot before forming his own trad jazz band – Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen – in 1958. His dixieland band was at the forefront of the early 1960s UK jazz revival.
In 1961 their recording of Cole Porter's "Samantha" (Pye 7NJ.2040 – released February 1961) became a hit, and they reached No. 2 at the end of 1961 on the UK Singles Chart, and in March 1962 on the Hot 100, with "Midnight in Moscow" (Pye 7NJ.2049 – released November 1961). The record sold over one million copies, earning gold disc status. Their next single "March of the Siamese Children" (Pye 7NJ.2051 – released February 1962), from The King and I, topped the pop music magazine New Musical Express's chart on 9 March 1962, further hits followed and such was their popularity in the UK that Ball was featured, along with Cliff Richard, Brenda Lee, Joe Brown, Craig Douglas and Frank Ifield, on the cover of the New Musical Express in July 1962, although in the United States they remained a "one-hit wonder".
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