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Patrick John Crumly (Febuary 9th, 1942 – September 28th, 2008) was a British Jazz Saxophonist, Flautist and a composer. Ronnie Scott once described Pat Crumly as "one of the saxophone players in this country that I most admire."

Life and Career

Pat was Born in Oxford to a working class family and educated at a local grammar school in the town. During this time he studied the clarinet for a couple of years. He left school at sixteen and by the time he was seventeen had bought his first Alto saxophone, a Conn underslung, and soon after established his own seven piece dance band.

In the late sixties, still in Oxford, Pat was playing with Spike Wells, Brian Priestley and a bass player called Andrew Evans. At the same time a lot of jazz musicians from London were travelling down to Oxford to guest with them. They played with the likes of Ian Carr, Tony Coe and Kenny Wheeler. In 1973 Pat was asked if he could sub for Don Rendell in the John Dankworth band and happily agreed. This was his turning point and from here he started to gain recognition as a talented saxophonist. In 1978 he was offered a tour of the UK with John Dankworth and this was his change from being a semipro to becoming a more professional musician. Pat moved to London in 1980 and started to establish himself with the jazz and the R&B people: Zoot Money, Eric Burdon, Chris Farlow and Roger Chapman. He also played with his own bands. It was at this time that he first met Ronnie Scott: “Ronnie and Pete first hooked on to me when I played for the first time at Ronnie’s in 1980 with Zoot Money. “Who’s the alto player?” Ronnie asked. I struck up a kind of relationship with Ronnie and when Ronnie used to get double booked, which was often, they would ring me and ask if I could fix a band.”

Later on, when Scott started to have problems with his health, Pat was called to sit-in for him on a number of occasions – all the way up until his death. From 1997, shortly after Ronnie Scott’s demise, until July 2003, Pat was fronting the Ronnie Scott Legacy Quartet led by long-time Scott associate and pianist, John Critchinson. This band toured the UK several times paying tribute to Ronnie, via music and humour, and also played a successful tour of New Zealand in 2001. The Quartet recorded a CD in memory of Ronnie Scott entitled 'Excuse Me, Do I Know You?' - this was released in January 1999 on the Jazzhouse Label (reissued 2005 on JAZZIZIT as 'Ronnie Remembered) and features guest appearances by Flora Purim, Georgie Fame, and ex-Ronnie Scott drummer, Martin Drew. From mid-1997 bassist Tim Wells and drummer Mark Fletcher came into the band to replace Leon Clayton and Martin Drew and this group took a break for a couple of years before beginning to play selected gigs again from 2006.

Pat had also been leading his own Quartet featuring Nick Weldon on piano along with Ronnie Scott Legacy pals Tim Wells on bass and Mark Fletcher on drums. This line-up, which has a regular slot at London's 606 Club (with occasional personnel changes) played several UK tours and ventured into Europe in Autumn 2006 for a successful club engagement in Athens…they also played a short UK tour early in 2007....their debut album, ‘Weaver of Dreams’, on 33 Records was released October 2003 to critical acclaim. Their UK tours included stints at Ronnie Scott’s, the last one being in March 2007. The Quartet's repertoire featured reworked 'standards' along with original compositions by Pat and Nick and the band was described as "a swinging, melodic and inventive unit".

During the 90s Pat was also featured saxophone soloist with British rock/blues vocalists Roger Chapman (ex'Family') and Chris Farlowe (ex 'Colosseum'), performing throughout Europe and appearing on three of Chapman's albums, and two of Farlowe's. Previous credits also include working/recording with artists such as Jimmy Witherspoon, John Dankworth, Duffy Jackson, Joe Newman, Jack Jones, Eric Burdon, Tam White, Salena Jones and Alan Price. Pat had also performed on occasion with Iraqi music legend Ilham al Madfai in Europe and the UK, and most recently in Beirut and Erbil (Kurdistan), following his guest appearance on the album 'Baghdad' recorded in 2003.

Pat has practiced Nichiren Buddhism since 1991 and is a member of SGI (Soka Gakkai International) (www.sgi-uk.org and www.sgi.org), a lay Buddhist organization which promotes peace, culture and education.

Musical Influences

One of Pat Crumly’s most notable early influences came from Charlie Parker: “I heard Bird for the first time where I was about fifteen and that was it. I did not know what he was doing but I wanted some of that. It was a ten inch album Live at the Royal Roost with Red Rodney. I remember taking it with a friend of mine to the local pub, which was the only place we knew where they had a record player. The landlord played it for us and I knew that I wanted to play like it.”

Other influences included the Count Basie band, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Sonny Stitt, Phil Woods, Art Pepper and many more.

Albums WEAVER OF DREAMS » PatCrumly Quartet (33JAZZ - 086)

RONNIE REMEMBERED » A Tribute to Ronnie Scott (JazzIzIt - JITCD0535) FLAMINGO » Pat Crumly Quartet/Septet (Spotlite SPJ-CD-550) BEHIND THE MASK » Pat Crumly Quartet/Quintet (Spotlite SP-JCD-549) THIRD WORLD SKETCHES » Pat Crumly Sextet (Spotlite SPJ-CD-431)

External Links

www.patcrumly.co.uk