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Artist
Shake Keane
12+ albums
Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesreggaefree jazzjazzJamaican Jazz
about
Ellsworth McGranahan “Shake” Keane (born 30 May 1927 in Kingstown, St Vincent -- died 11 November 1997 in Oslo, Norway), was a jazz musician, poet and government minister. He is most well known today for his role as a jazz trumpeter, principally his work as a member of the ground breaking Joe Harriott Quintet (1959-1965). Keane attended Kingstown Methodist school and St Vincent boys' grammar school. During his early adulthood in St Vincent, his principal interest was poetry and literature, not music. He had been dubbed ‘Shakespeare’ by his school friends, on account of this love of prose and poetry. This nickname was subsequently shortened to ‘Shake’, which would become the name he used throughout his adult life. He published two books of poetry, L'Oubili (1950) and Ixion (1952), while still in St Vincent. Keane emigrated to Britain in 1952. He worked on the BBC radio programme Caribbean Voices, reading poetry and interviewing fellow writers and musicians. He also began playing the trumpet in London nightclubs, working in a number of styles including cabaret, highlife, soca, mento, calypso and jazz. From 1959 he committed more fully to jazz, spending six years as a member of pioneering alto saxophonist Joe Harriott’s band. Harriott’s group was the first in Europe, and one of the first worldwide, to play free jazz, and Keane contributed mightily to the band’s artistic success, thanks to his fleet and powerful improvisatory skills on trumpet and flugelhorn. During this period
top songs
albums
London Is the Place for Me 5: Latin, Jazz, Calypso and Highlife from Young Black London
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Refined Lard: A Trunk Records Sampler
Rising Stars
Jazz Masters
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DIG IT! The Sound Of Phase 4 Stereo
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Space Party Music: Way Out Sounds for Your Space Party
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Spinout 6T's
Refined Lard
London Is The Place For Me 4: African Dreams & The Piccadilly High Life
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London Is The Place For Me 4 - African Dreams And The Piccadilly High Life
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London Is the Place for Me 2
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Beatles vs. Stones (Jazz Club)