User:Albatros1939

Short description - Scottish musician - drummer Infobox Musician Full name     = Albert Thomas Rossi Birth date    = September 25, 1939 Birth_place   = Newton Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK.

Albert Rossi is a Scottish musician.

He was born of Italian/Scottish origin in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. His grandfather Domenico Rossi was part of a family that immigrated to the UK from a small village called San Biagio, Saracinisco high up in the mountains between Rome and Naples. The family, who were on their way to the 'New World' (USA), arrived in the UK sometime during 1885. In those days you had to travel first to Britain in order to get a boat to the United States of America. This was very tedious and an extremely long journey and it could take up to 3 months to get on a boat. However, it was while the family were in Plymouth, waiting for the first opportunity to get on a boat, that some of the them took the brave decision that Britain was the place for them as it had just as many prospects, and opportunities, as the then very popular “New World”. It also wasn’t on the other side of the world and much closer to their roots should they ever decide to return to their homeland. When Domenico was young he earned money as a barrel organ busker in London. it was while he was a young man he travelled to Scotland for a holiday and met, fell in love and married Lavinia Dykes in Paisley. They had 6 children and Alberts father Ronald, who was the first born, was the only son.

Albert's childhood included living through WW2 but, soon after the end of it, his father took over a fish and chip restaurant in Lossiemouth, a coastal town on the Moray Firth in the northern part of Scotland. He grew up in a typical Italian fashion with Pastas and fish and chips being the main dish at home. His father Ronald, who was a Staff Sergeant in Montgomery's 8th army during the war so cooking was his passion. at age 9 the family moved back to Paisley where his father bought a mobile fish and chip van that served the Ferguslie Park region of the town. It remained a popular supper dish for much of the community for many years and is still remembered fondly by many to this day.

At the age of 14 Albert, who had been a keen jazz fan since the age of 12, decided to take drum lessons at the then most famous Glasgow drum teacher, Lester Penman's drumming school. he studied there for 5 years but, it was at the age of 15 that he got his first music gig with a quartet to play at a dance in Elderslie's Village Hall. it was the beginning of a long career in the music industry which was going to eventually take him far away from his roots in paisley, Scotland. He had his own jazz quartet at the age of 16 which included some of Glaswegians top musicians. During the following years he performed with many bands and toured the most of Scotland playing rock and pop music while backing many of the UK's pop stars of the day including Vince Eager, Johnny Duncan, The Batchelors, Duffy Power, Joe Brown, Bert Weeden, Don Lang and Dickie Pride.