A blue plaque for Freddy Randall

A blue plaque has been erected at the house on Old Church Road, Chingford, London E4 where the great British jazz trumpeter Freddy Randall lived in the 1950s, as part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest’s scheme to celebrate local history and cultural heritage.

Digby Fairweather, jazz trumpeter, writer and broadcaster, and founder of the National Jazz Archive, said:
“Freddy was an inspiration to a whole generation of young jazz trumpeters and fans and was a wonderful musician and band leader. I’m delighted that we can pay tribute to him and his great contribution to British jazz through unveiling this plaque on his Chingford home.”

In the late 1940s the place for north London jazz fans to be on a Sunday night was the Cleveland Rhythm Club at Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton. This was the venue that featured the great British trumpeter, Freddy Randall, and his band.

Freddy was born in Clapton, east London but lived for some years in Chingford, and so is now being commemorated through the Waltham Forest’s Blue Plaque scheme.

For several years, the National Jazz Archive, located in Loughton Library, Essex has been working with Waltham Forest to identify the residences of jazz musicians in the Borough, which covers Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow and Chingford. This project is part of the telling of the Story of British Jazz that the Archive began during the three-year period of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund 2011–14.

read more: http://www.nationaljazzarchive.co.uk/news?id=476