James Blades
James "Jimmy" Blades OBE (9 September 1901 – 19 May 1999) was an English percussionist.[1][2][3]
He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with long and varied career. His book Percussion Instruments and their History (1971) is a standard reference work on the subject [1][2]
Blades was born in Peterborough, England in 1901.[2] He was a long-time associate of Benjamin Britten, with whom he conceived many of the composer's unusual percussion effects.[citation needed] In 1954, Blades was appointed Professor of Percussion in the Royal Academy of Music.[1][2]
As a chamber musician he played with the Melos Ensemble and with the English Chamber Orchestra.[1]
Blades' pupils included the rock drummers Carl Palmer and Richard James Burgess as well as the percussionist Evelyn Glennie.[1][2]
His most famous and widely heard performances were the sound of the African drum playing "V-for-Victory" in Morse code- the introduction to the BBC broadcasts made to the European Resistance during World War II,[1][2] and providing the sound of the gong seen at the start of films produced by the Rank Organisation. Blades played this sound on a tam-tam. On screen Blades's sound was mimed to by the "Gongman",
His autobiography Drum Roll: A Professional Adventure from the Circus to the Concert Hall was published by Faber & Faber in 1977.[4]
[edit] Bibliography
- Orchestral Percussion Techniques (Oxford: University, 1961) ISBN 9780193188013
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Faber & Faber, 1971) ISBN 9780571088584
- Orchestral Percussion Techniques (Oxford: University, 1973) ISBN 9780193188037
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Faber & Faber, 1975) ISBN 9780571103607
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Faber & Faber, 1975) ISBN 9780571048328
- Early Percussion Instruments from the Middle Ages to the Baroque (Oxford: University, 1976) ISBN 9780193231764 (with Jeremy Montagu).
- Drum Roll: A Professional Adventure from the Circus to the Concert Hall (London: Faber & Faber, 1977) ISBN 9780571101078
- Ready to Play (London: BBC, 1978) ISBN 9780563176107 (with Carole Ward)
- From Cave to Cavern (London: Sussex, 1982) ISBN 9781860131387
- A Check-List of the Percussion Instruments in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments (Edinburgh: Reid School of Music, 1982) ISBN 9780907635079
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Faber & Faber, 1984) ISBN 9780571180813
- How to Play Drums (London: Penguin, 1985) ISBN 9780241116708 (with Johnny Dean)
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Pro Am Music Resources, 1992) ISBN 9780933224711
- These I Have Met... (London: Music Sales, 1998) ISBN 9780905210773
- How to Play Drums (London: St Martins, 1992) ISBN 9780312082123 (with Johnny Dean)
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Kahn & Averill, 1993) ISBN 9781871082364
- Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Kahn & Averill, 2006) ISBN 9780933224612
[edit] Obituary
- David Corkhill Obituary "James Blades: His skills as a percussionist enthused a generation" The Guardian, 29 May 1999
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Michael Skinner, In Memoriam: James Blades OBE, Percussive Arts Society, 1999. Retrieved August 8, 2007. Link dead as of 4 January 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Nick Ravo, "James Blades Is Dead at 97; a Percussionist for Victory", The New York Times (May 25, 1999). Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- ^ James Blades biographical notice F.D. Fairchild 1999
- ^ Nielsen BookData ISBN 9780571101078
