Brian Lemon

Brian Lemon (11 February 1937 – 11 October 2014) was a British jazz pianist and arranger.[1]

Brian Lemon
Birth nameBrian Lemon
Born(1937-02-11)11 February 1937
Nottingham, UK
Died11 October 2014(2014-10-11) (aged 77)
Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsPiano
Years active1956-2005

Biography

Lemon was born in Nottingham, UK. Upon leaving school in the 1950s he began playing professionally at Nottingham's Palais de Danse and other local venues.

He moved to London, aged 19, in 1956 to join Freddy Randall's group.[2] After that he worked with George Chisholm, Kenny Baker and Sandy Brown. Over the years, he also worked with Benny Goodman, Charlie Watts, Scott Hamilton, Buddy Tate, Milt Jackson, Ben Webster, and Digby Fairweather. From 1961 to 1963 he had his own trio at the comedian Peter Cook’s Soho club in London called 'The Establishment'.

He led an octet which played songs by Billy Strayhorn. Lemon worked as a regular session musician with many groups which were recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale studios in London for broadcast on Sunday night's BBC Radio 1's Sounds of Jazz introduced by Peter Clayton in the early 1970s.

Lemon recorded a sequence of 27 albums for Zephyr over 10 years from 1994, though not always as leader. Lemon had a remarkable skill as an accompanist, together with his in-depth knowledge of the classic American song repertoire. Zephyr was set up by retired businessman John Bune to record Lemon's work.[3] Lemon retired from music around 2005 after the development of severe osteoarthritis in his hands.[1][3]

Adelaide Hall recorded an album with The Brian Lemon Half-Dozen. A rare copy is at the British Library.[4]

Personal life

Lemon married Debby Holley in 1965. They eventually separated although did not divorce. Holley, her son and Susan Burgess, his partner, all survive him.[5]

Discography

As leader
Year recorded Title Label Notes
1970 Our Kind of Music 77 Records[6]
1995 Over the Rainbow Zephyr with Derek Watkins
1995 A Beautiful Friendship Zephyr with Roy Williams
1995 How Long Has This Been Going On Zephyr with Roy Williams
1996 Old Hands, Young Minds Zephyr with Alan Barnes
1996 Lemon Looks Back Zephyr
1999–2000 My Shining Hour Zephyr

As sideman

References
  1. Vacher, Peter (24 October 2014). "Brian Lemon obituary". The Guardian.
  2. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  3. Obituary: Brian Lemon, Daily Telegraph, 5 November 2014
  4. "Explore the British Library Search - 2LP0040874". explore.bl.uk.
  5. "Brian Lemon - obituary". November 5, 2014 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. Illustrated 77 Records discography Retrieved 8 June 2013.
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