Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Dick Charlesworth, born Richard Anthony Charlesworth on January 8, 1932 in Sheffield, England. Attending King Edward VII School, at 16, he became a clerk in the Ministry of Labour and was in due course transferred to London. He bought a clarinet and started playing jazz as a hobby in 1952. Entirely self-taught, he became good enough to play clarinet and saxophone in a dance band and performed with jazz bands in south London including Jim Weller’s Jazzmen.

He formed his first group in 1956 and his Dick Charlesworth’s Jazzmen won the South London Jazz Band Championship in 1957. His group was signed by the Melodisc label, and they recorded an EP in December 1957 and produced an album for Doug Dobell’s 77 Records.

Leaving the Civil Service in 1959 he became a professional musician and signed a recording contract with EMI, remarketing the group as Dick Charlesworth’s City Gents. This was the time of light jazz, sporting distinctive attire of pin stripes and bowler hats, with their Latin motto, Dum vivimus vivamus, simply translated as “While we live, let us enjoy life”. They charted one single Billy Boy on the UK Singles Chart in 1961.

When jazz went out of vogue in the Sixties, Dick broke up his band, and from 1964 to 1969 fronted a band on the cruise liners. He then settled in Mojacar, Spain where he ran a music bar. Returning to Britain in 1977, he was active on the London jazz scene until the early 2000s working with, among others, Keith Smith, Rod Mason, Alan Littlejohn, Denny Wright, and appeared on the BBC Radio series, Jazz Score. 

In his later years, Charlesworth lived in Thames Ditton, Surrey, and played a residency at various pubs with his band The Dick Charlesworth’s Fraternity Four, and released their final recording in 2004. Clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader Dick Charlesworth passed away following a heart attack on April 15, 2008, at the age of 76.

More Posts: bandleader,clarinet,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone