Trombonist John Maxwell Collie
Yesterday, January 6, 2018, Australia born trombonist/bandleader John Maxwell Collie (1931-2018) passed away.
From the 70s to the 90s I had the pleasure of attending several of his performances with his traditional jazz band Max Collie and his Rhythm Aces. The left-handed trombonist, was a tall imposing man who, despite his wildhaired, wild-eyed look on stage was a very gentle person when you talked to him between sets.
These two numbers from Max Collie and his Rhythm Aces at a Thursday night performance at the Harbour Jazzclub in my hometown Rotterdam on November 16, 1978, give a good impression of their New Orleans revival music.
First, Charlie Holmes & Luis Russell's "Saratoga Shout":
The bandmembers are: Phil Mason-cornet; Max Collie-trombone; Jack Gilbert-soprano sax; Gentleman Jim McIntosh-banjo; Trevor Williams-string bass and Ron McKay-drums.
Jack Gilbert switches to the clarinet for Irving Berlin's "Cheek To Cheek" in which drummer Ron McKay takes care of the vocals:
Yesterday Max Collie's manager Martin Ross wrote an excellent tribute on the Jazz and Jazz website detailing more about Max Collie's career and which can be found here: http://www.jazzandjazz.com/.../sorry-to-report-max.../
