Beryl Bryden

Beryl Audley Bryden (11 May 1920 – 14 July 1998) was an English jazz singer, who played with Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan.[1] Ella Fitzgerald once said of Bryden that she was "Britain's queen of the blues".

Beryl Bryden
Birth nameBeryl Audley Bryden
Born(1920-05-11)11 May 1920
Norwich, Norfolk, England
Died14 July 1998(1998-07-14) (aged 78)
Paddington, London
GenresJazz
Trad Jazz
Occupation(s)Singer
InstrumentsVocals
Washboard
Years active1942-1998

Life and career

Bryden was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England, on 11 May 1920 and was the only child of Amos and Elsie Bryden. Bryden's enthusiasm for jazz music started during her teenage years. She became a member of the National Rhythm Club when she was 17 and became secretary of the local branch in 1941. An ardent jazz fan she established a Nat Gonella fan club in her teens, before taking up the washboard and singing. Her vocal style was influenced by Bessie Smith but she avoided affectation of an American accent. She was a friend of Black Anna Hannant who ran the Jolly Butchers pub in Ber Street, Norwich.[2]

In 1942, aged 22, she moved to Cambridge. In 1945, after the war had ended, she moved to back to London, hoping to start a music career.[3][1] She also worked with Mick Mulligan and George Melly at London jazz venues such as the Cook's Ferry Inn, Walthamstow and became a supporter of visiting American jazz acts when the Musicians Union ban was lifted and befriended, amongst others, Buck Clayton, Louis Armstrong and Bud Freeman, with whom she recorded.

In May 1949 Bryden formed her own group called Beryl’s Back-Room Boys and later worked with Mike Daniels. At the same club in 1952 she met the French clarinettist Maxime Saury and sang with his band at The Club Du Vieux Colombier, District Of Saint Germain Des Pres, Paris.[4]

In 1955 she joined the Chris Barber band on washboard, and played on the group's gold disc, "Rock Island Line" with Lonnie Donegan on vocals. This track helped trigger the 'skiffle' craze of the late 1950s.[5] She later graduated to the Monty Sunshine jazz band, where she covered Bessie Smith ("Young Woman's Blues", "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)") and long-term favourite "Coney Island Washboard Blues", which demonstrated her washboard technique.[5]

She remained active at the end of the British trad jazz boom, and became particularly popular in Northern Europe, playing with the Ted Easton Jazz Band and The Piccadilly Six. On July 13, 1979, she headlined the North Sea Jazz Festival with Rod Mason and His Hot Five. In the 1980s she often sang with the New Orleans Syncopators, a Dutch jazz band, whom she recorded an album with.

She remained active into the 1990s,[3] playing with the Metropolitan Jazz Band, Digby Fairweather, Nat Gonella and her own Blue Boys. She made her last recording with Gonella in 1998, shortly before her death.[6]

Personal life and death

Bryden was a keen traveller. She was renowned for her flamboyant gowns and sculptured blonde wigs. She died from Lymphoma aged 78 at St Mary's Hospital, London on 14 July 1998.[3]

Discography
  • Two Moods of Beryl Bryden (Audiophile, 1994)

References
  1. Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 195/6. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  2. Beryl Bryden Biography www.allmusic.com Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. Chilton, John (2004). Who's Who of British Jazz (2nd ed.). Continuum. p. 50.
  4. Beryl Bryden Norfolk Women in History www.norfolkwomeninhistory.com
  5. Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 53/4. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
  6. Beryl Bryden Biography www.flickr.com
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