Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Joseph C Mudele was born on September 30, 1920 and grew up in Downham, South East London. He left school at the age of 14 and began singing and playing in local bands. He began playing double bass at the age of 17 after buying an upright bass in a junk shop. After having served in the war in the Royal Air Force, he studied for a while with principal double bassist James Merritt with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

His professional playing career took off in 1947 with clarinetist Carl Barriteau, accordionist Tito Burns and the Jimmy Macaffer Band. He toured with Hoagy Carmichael during the autumn of 1948, and played with Charlie Parker and drummer Max Roach at the 1949 International Jazz Festival in Paris.

In 1948 Mudele became a founder member of Club Eleven, a Soho nightclub open between 1948 and 1950 which played a significant role in the emergence of the bebop jazz movement in Britain. After the club was closed he became a founder member of the John Dankworth Seven, while also continuing to play with others during the Fifties. During this period Mudele also played for Sophie Tucker, Judy Garland and Billy Eckstine.

Joe supplemented his club performances with extensive radio, television and recording studio work outside of jazz from the 1960s onwards. In later life Mudele lived in Bromley, played weekly at the Bexley Jazz Club in Kent, and took over management duties after owner Les Simons died in 2004. In 2010 he recorded For All We Know with pianist Robin Aspland and drummer Geoff Gascoyne.

Double bassist Joe Mudele, who was sometimes known as Joe Muddel or Muddell and was one of the Club Eleven Collective, died at age 93 on March 7, 2014.

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