Jack Emblow

About

From Wikipedia:

Jack Alexander Emblow (born 27 June 1930) is a British jazz accordionist who is best known for his musical work accompanying the Cliff Adams Singers on BBC Radio.

Biography

Emblow was born on 27 June 1930 in Lincoln, England. His father sang a little and his mother played piano but not professionally. He studied the piano at the age of nine although moved on to the accordion aged 11. In his early teens he was a member of Jack Kitson’s Accordion Band. It was with this band that he met his future wife and fellow accordionist, Pat Lowe. At 15 he was part of a stage act with jazz pianist Eddie Thompson and in 1947, aged 17, he auditioned with the BBC. In addition to solo broadcasts, as a young man he played with Al Podesta & His Accordion Band also in the 1940s.

He worked at the Berkeley Hotel in Piccadilly, playing for Ian Stewart for three years. He formed a sextet (The Jack Emblow Sextet) in 1956 which made its radio debut in the programme Music While You Work and remained with them until 1961. Emblow performed in over 500 broadcasts of which 54 were in Music While You Work. He also contributed the music to the radio programmes Bright and Early, Morning Music and On with the Bands. The Sextet was regarded by senior BBC producers as ‘the best small group on radio, led by one of the most skilful accordionists in the country’.

As a session player, he worked with a huge number of artists, including singers and bands such as Alma Cogan, Elton John, Elaine Paige, the Beat, Curved Air, Rolf Harris, Michael Holliday, Tom Jones, Grace Jones, Donovan, Peter Sarstedt, Sandie Shaw as well as accordionists Jimmy Shand and Dermot O’Brien. He has also worked with orchestras led by George Martin, Ted Heath, Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini and bandleader Nelson Riddle. On 25 June 1967 he played on the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” session held at Abbey Road Studios number 2 playing on the first live, worldwide satellite programme to an international audience in excess of 350 million. He is also featured on the soundtracks of many films, radio and TV programmes.

He has been regarded as Britain’s top jazz accordionist. […]

Last updated on April 1, 2023