JOHN HALLAM

At the age of 14, John started playing the clarinet, followed soon after by the alto saxophone and flute. He gained experience with a military band and a dance band, but also jointly formed a jazz band whilst still at school. The first paid gig was at a youth club in Dukinfield where the band with no name found they were billed as the Blue Lotus Jazz Band (to this day nobody knows why!), but the name stuck as did the fee 6s-8d each ( 5s the fee, plus bus fare and fish & chips on the way home). The band carried on until the mid sixties with a high spot of winning a competition to play at the Royal Albert Hall with Frankie Vaughan. While in London the band did an interval spot at the 100 Club on the Sunday evening. The star band was Kenny Ball and this lead to a long read more...