Harold Davison Ltd (1 results)
Published by Harold Davison LTD, London, 1960
- First Edition
- Signed
Seller: Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.Ground Zero Books, Ltd.
Contact seller5-star sellerPhotograph with autograph. Condition: Good. The format is approximately 5.5 inches by 3.75 inches. This is a black and white photograph of the large orchestra on a stage with a caption at the bottom that says The Choice of The Stars Vic Lewis and his Orchestra Representation: Harold Davison LTD. Signed at the bottom that reads B…est wishes Vic Lewis. The other side is blank. Victor Lewis MBE (29 July 1919 9 February 2009) was a British jazz guitarist and bandleader. He enjoyed success as an agent and manager. He was born in London. Lewis began playing the guitar at the age of three. One of his early bands included George Shearing. Lewis toured the United States in 1938, where he played his favored four string guitar in recording sessions, including a band that had Bobby Hackett, Eddie Condon, and Pee Wee Russell. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1944; during this time he recorded with Buddy Featherstonhaugh. He worked with Stephane Grappelli during 1944-45 and with Ted Heath. While in the RAF, he met Jack Parnell and together they formed a sextet, the "Vic Lewis/Jack Parnell Jazzmen", releasing recordings on Parlophone's Super Rhythm Style label. Harold Davison was the music impresario who brought the Rolling Stones to the US. Davison, who was born in London, also introduced European concert audiences to US artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby. A talent agent, manager, producer and executive, Davison was the first to book Sinatra and Judy Garland concerts in the UK and continental Europe. Davison took the Stones and the Dave Clark Five across the Atlantic. Lewis played a role in helping to popularize the music of Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan in Britain. When he put together his first big band in 1946 to play swing jazz he soon began to direct the ensemble toward a more American sound influenced by Kenton. Kenton provided Lewis with some of his arrangements by Mulligan, Pete Rugolo and Bill Holman, and they became close friends. Lewis's pianist, Ken Thorne, also made arranging contributions. Lewis toured the US with the band at various intervals between 1956 and 1959, and recorded extensively for Parlophone, Esquire, Decca, and Philips. The album At the Beaulieu Festival was recorded in 1959 but not issued until 1964. It features a 12 piece ensemble and includes selections from Lewis's extended Springbok and American suites, with Kenny Wheeler. Vic Lewis Plays Bossa Nova at Home and Away was issued in 1963. The first side was recorded in London, with contributions from Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Shake Keane and others. Side two came from a session in California, featuring Bud Shank, Shelly Manne and Shorty Rogers. Lewis had first met some of these musicians while conducting the Stan Kenton Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1950. After 1959 Lewis semi-retired as a performer as he became involved in artist management. He only occasionally recorded, although he continued to write about jazz and champion its value. His involvement in the West Coast All Stars during the 1990s was mostly backroom. Meanwhile his composing interests shifted more towards classical music and he conducted recordings of his own music and those of others with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His orchestral compositions include the Russian Suite, a Romance for Violin, and two movements ("Red" and "Jade") from Colours, a multi-composer suite he put together and conducted in 1997. In the early 1960s, as the big bands declined, Lewis turned to artist management, overseeing the careers of photographer Robert Whitaker and the singer Cilla Black among many others. In 1964, Lewis sold his management agency to Brian Epstein's company NEMS, and thereafter worked with Epstein on arranging the Beatles' international tours. Following Epstein's death in 1967, Lewis served as managing director of NEMS.[9] He also managed Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, and Lewis produced Gibb's debut album Robin's Reign released in 1970. Lewis married the actress Jill Anstey in 1950. An autobiography, Music and Maiden Overs: My Showbusiness Life (written with the publicist Tony Barrow and with a discography compiled by Tony Middleton) was published in 1987. He also collaborated with Robert Feather on a volume of photographs, My Life in Jazz (2007). Lewis was awarded the MBE in 2007. Presumed First Edition, one of multiple impressions, presumed uniquely inscribed.