Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Glenn Miller all
great bands, the very best and Ted Heath was part of that
group, one of the greatest bands in the world

"For a band especially a British outfit to be recognised alongside the
American big five was an achievement of astronomic and almost
unbelieveable proportions. But rated Ted was and unquestionably
recognised by these bandleaders as a member of their own elite
league." Tony Parker, author "The Greatest Swing Band in the World"

In 1944 Ted Heath formed his own band
recruiting the very best arrangers and
musicians but had to retire from performing in
the late 1960's due to a heart condtion and
died in November 1969. Trombonist Don
Lusher took over the lead of the band and it
continued to record and perform for over 20
years until December 2000.

"In many ways Ted, when selecting his choice
of personnel for the band, acted very much
like the modern day soccer manager. He
knew the players that he wanted for his line-
up and went about recruiting them. If they
weren't available at the time he would wait
until they were available to join his team of
top-liners. This was all part and parcel of his
master plan to create the best swing band this
country had ever seen, and one that would be
up here challenging the Stateside outfits in
the top league." Tony Parker.


This is part of the IDF50 "Music of Our Lives"
series, this page orginated from a great thread
in our forums about Big Bands and in
particular Ted Heath please add to it HERE.
There are many references to Ted Heath and
his Band as well as other great bands on the
web. No point in us just duplicating that info
but instead have tried to direct you to the best
on the web. Please let us know of any links
we have missed or any that need updating.

Tony Parker, author of "The Greatest Swing
Band In The World."
The Ted Heath Musical Appreciation Society
and in particular Charles Jackson editor of the
"THMAS" newsletter.
IDF50 members for all their help, wonderful
memories and contributions.
Note - we have crammed quite a lot into this
page, please allow time to load

Membership of The Ted Heath Musical
Appreciation Society Membership costs: £6
single, £6.50 couple, Outside the UK £7. A
magazine is posted quarterly with news and
events. There are several local branches of
the society throughout the UK as well as some
Overseas Branches Join Here

Great bands we've discovered playing music
from the swing era, please let us know of
anymore:
Debbie Curtis Radio Big Band
Chris Dean& The Syd Lawrence Orchestra
The Mike James Sound
There also a great 15 piece band who hail
from the Surrey/Sussex area called "Perfida"
but can't find any contact/web details.
music@idf50.co.uk

Sound varies on some of the clips - entirely
due to the recordings. For the opening Ted
Heath clip you will need to have the volume
right up. Checked with most browsers and
everything seems to be working. Please allow
time for the sections to load. Will also be
discussing the page in the web design forum
and welcome your ideas and help

London Dance Halls 1920 - 1940
Victor Silvester's Dancing Club
The Creep
The Jitterbug