Product Description

In this compelling and moving account of the marvellous Melly's last five years, on- and off-stage, the eminent jazz trumpeter, Digby Fairweather, whose band has accompanied Melley during this period, captures the technicolour Melly as never before. He vividly recalls the many gigs, recording and drinking sessions, the performances up and down the country, the characters they have met and the unexpected and unscripted encounters...as well as their conversations and friendship.Anyone who has seen George Melly on stage will know how outrageous and captivating he can be - the rouguish twinkle in the eye always spelling mischief. But there is another side to him - his erudition, his fame as an expert on Surrealism, his passion for angling, his sexual appetite and more.Even in his last year, although very ill and growing ever more deaf, his sense of fun and his love of music has kept him singing to the end - the ultimate performer. In "George Melly: The Final Bows of a Legend", one of his closest associates offers a view of this jazz master as never seen before.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #308593 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

About the Author
Digby Fairweather has played jazz professionally for the last thirty years, worked with all of Britain's best-known Swing musicians, broadcast on jazz, worked in jazz education and (from 1995) led his 'Half-Dozen' which won the British Jazz Award for best small group in 2005 and 2006. His previous books include an autobiography Notes from a Jazz Life and Nat Gonella: a life in Jazz. He is a prolific co-author of jazz reference works including Jazz: the Rough Guide and Grove's Dictionary of Jazz. In 2007 he continues to play, to broadcast on Britain's new 24-hour station The Jazz and to lead his Half-Dozen countrywide.

Customer Reviews

A Commendable Balancing Act!
Digby Fairweather's account of his touring years with the late George Melly, at times irreverent and outrageous, provides a wonderfully evocative portrait of this once iconic jazz hero.

Digby, an established and well respected jazz musician in his own right had to juggle for six years, the competing demands of Melly's ego and progressive ill health.

It is at times an extremely funny and deeply moving portrayal of a man who was fast losing his rogue identity as a rebellious and decadent jazz maverick, as infirmity cruelly took hold.

But for the author, he also had the personal and professional dilemmas of managing the sometimes frosty relationships of the irascible and outspoken agent Jack Higgins and George's wife Diana, as she coped with her husband's increasing frailty.

Digby at times underrated the important role he played in keeping the show on the road whilst protecting George's reputation, coping with his unreliability and managing his rapidly declining health. Despite leading the band and ensuring that George got to the venues, he even acted as merchandise manager during the intervals, demonstrating commendable humility in helping George to manage his business affairs.

In the course of being at times unfairly dismissed by George, as his 'backing band', Digby and the Half Dozen in fact grew in stature and esteem as they competed to establish their own jazz style.

George Melly was a huge and popular character in the world of jazz but like many iconic heroes, he was no doubt a difficult taskmaster both as a colleague and as a family man.

Digby's open and revealing story provides a fascinating insight not only to the demands and complexities of touring but also to the competing egos and eccentricities of the jazz life.

A warts and all account of George Melly's final years.
Jazz trumpeter and bandleader, Digby Fairweather has written a brutally honest and intensely moving account of life on the road with his long-time hero, the multi-talented George Melly. Musical tensions often surfaced between George and Digby's band, 'The Half Dozen', but they usually managed to resolve their differences. Although George's health was rapidly deteriorating, suffering from vascular dementia and lung cancer among other complaints, he was determined to carry on singing and performing. The author writes vividly of the trials and traumas experienced in getting George to the various venues and how he became transformed once on stage.
This must be one of the most candid jazz books ever written but 'Good Time George' would surely have been delighted with Digby's warts and all record of his final six years.