Basil Kirchin

about

Experimental composer Basil Kirchin was born in Great Britain in 1927. He made his professional debut in December 1941 at London's Paramount, playing drums in his father Ivor Kirchin's jazz band, and remained a fixture of the group throughout the remainder of World War II, playing 14 shows per week. After the war ended, Kirchin joined Harry Roy's newly-formed New 1946 Orchestra (one of the first true British big bands) as a featured soloist, gaining national exposure via the band's regular appearances on BBC radio. As the decade drew to a close, Kirchin signed on with the Ted Heath Big Band, at the time arguably the most popular big band in all of Europe. In 1952 he returned to London to form his own group, installing his father as co-leader and recruiting trumpeters Tony Grant, Stan Palmer, Bobby Orr, and Norman Baron; saxophonists Ronnie Baker, Duncan Lamont, Pete Warner, John Xerri and Alex Leslie, pianist Harry South, bassist Ronnie Seabrook, vocalist Johnny Grant, and arranger John Clarke. The Kirchin Band made its debut on September 8 with a year-long residency at the Edinburgh Fountainbridge Palais, followed in November 1953 by an engagement at the Belfast Plaza Ballroom that extended into the spring of 1954. At the same time, the group also backed singer Ruby Murray during a 13-week series for Radio Luxembourg. In mid-1954 Ivor Kirchin was critically injured in an auto accident, and Basil attempted to lead the band on his own. Without a head for business, however,

top songs

albums

Basil Kirchin is My Friend: A Trunk Records Sampler

Primitive London

Charcoal Sketches

I Start Counting (Basil Kirchin)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Abstractions Of The Industrial North

Mind On The Run

Quantum

Fuzzy Felt Folk

Particles

Now We Are Ten

Assignment Kirchin (Two Unreleased Scores From the Kirchin Tape Archive)

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