Stan Tracey, CBE (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013); British Jazz

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1982 - Toured Greece for the British Council.

I met Stan Tracey in 1982, when he was touring Northern Greece. A great musician, but we had a very hard time locating suitable pianos in some of the smaller Northern Greek towns. Stan was not amused by some of the upright pianos (even a brand new one, bought especially for the concert, by one obliging venue), and he let it be known in no uncertain terms. He was right to expect the same high standard of concert grand piano that a top classical pianist would expect. He was standing up for the equal musical importance and artistic status of jazz.

"In 1986 Tracey was appointed OBE in recognition of his services to British jazz — although he used to joke that it was actually for 40 years spent “battling bad pianos”. He was advanced to CBE in 2008. By his own reckoning, his playing career had taken him to 39 countries" (from The Telegraph Obituary).

The Godfather of British Jazz (YouTube)

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