Peter Coe was Georgie Fame's tenor sax player when he was a star, appearing on albums such as "Sweet Thing" and his number one hits "Yeah Yeah" and "Getaway". In 1966 Peter played on The Beatles "Got to Get You into My Life", earning him much notoriety. Polydor then enlisted him to assemble a resident band for their London recording studio, cutting demos for big name singers and aspiring artists alike for a number of years around the turn of the 1970s. It was during this time that Peter became focussed on the job of being a bandleader rather than simply a player in a band.
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Peter toured during the early part of the 70s with his jazz quartet, before Dave Pugh, the proprietor of The Leather Bottel pub in South London asked him to put a big band together for a residency. In the space of just a couple of weeks Peter assembled his big band, which over the following weeks and months would spread out to include up to sixteen players. The residency at The Leather Bottel started in 1976 and continued every Sunday for the next nine years. Also that year, the BBC commenced their Big Band Competition, which the Peter Coe Big Band won. Because of the handsome margin of their victory the Beeb in their wisdom banned Peter Coe from entering a tape in the competition in the following year. A second resounding victory in 1978 lead to an amazing three-year ban on entry - however, an tape submitted as the Ceeporte Big Band also triumphed - the BBC only figuring out the subterfuge after the broadcast. Although the band did undertake some touring duties in the London area, maintaining such a large group of players on the road inevitably proved difficult. The residency continued up until the death of leader of the brass section Charlie Evans in 1985, at which point the band moved to other venues before disbanding in 1986. The Leather Bottle boasted jazz on three nights of the week, with Peter Coe's Sunday residency being complimented by the Tony Lee Trio's Thursday and Tuesday sessions. The Leather Bottel remains, but currently has no music policy. For the recording of the albums, the BBC outside broadcast unit was hired and duly pulled up in the car park of the Leather Bottel, recording the band playing in the same manner as they would for one of their Sunday sessions, in front of a live audience. The band developed a large following during its residency; a fan club was assembled and no doubt included a certain Windsor Davies, whose distinctive Welsh tones can be heard amongst the crowd noise on the first LP. Public demand led to several albums on Peter's own Jam records, on which he also released recordings by other jazz artists. Several thousand copies of these LPs were manufactured and were sold exclusively at gigs. Today, Peter is 76 years old and still plays occasional jazz gigs, although not having the required puff for tenor these days, has moved onto the piano. |
