FRED ELIZALDE

If you met Fred Elizalde then you met one of the most influential musicians in Britain during the late 1920's, but his career is only well documented up until 1932. Fred (Federico) was born in 1907 in Navarra, Spain, into a plantation-owning family in the Philippines *. (information from Myriam Horngren, a grand-daughter of Federico). Federico studied piano as a child until he and his brother Lizz (Manuel) were sent to USA (Stanford) to study law. Here they found jazz and embraced it to the detriment of their law studies. Lizz was moved to England (Cambridge) to continue his studies. Lizz soon joined The Quinquaginta Band, playing alto sax. When Fred came over to England he took over leadership of the band, and changed it's name to The Quinquaginta Ramblers. By 1927 the band were already making records (Brunswick), including Elizalde compositions. The hot arrangements caught the attention of record buyers read more...