Clare Deniz

Clara "Clare" Ethel Deniz (née Wason, 30 September 1911 – 7 December 2002), was a British jazz pianist, who played with many jazz and swing bands in London's evolving jazz scene from the Second World War onwards.

Clare Deniz
Birth nameClara Ethel Deniz
Born(1911-09-30)30 September 1911
Died7 December 2002(2002-12-07) (aged 91)
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Pianist

Early life

She was born Clara Ethel Watson on 30 September 1911, in Cardiff, the daughter of Frederick Wason (c.1883–1913), a merchant seaman from Barbados, and Bessie Louise Wason, née Bryant, from Somerset.[1]

Career

She earned her first resident post thanks to the help of the Trinidadian drummer Happy Blake, at his Rendezvous des Artistes, and it was there that she met musicians from Ken "Snakehips" Johnson's new band, made up solely from black musicians, and with which her brother-in-law was the guitarist. After the then-pianist Yorke de Souza moved to Australia, she took over in Mayfair's Florida Club, and remained there until her first child was born.[1][2]

Her husband had to serve abroad during the war, and she worked with musicians including the bandleader Eric Winstone as well as the trumpeters Johnnie Claes and Leslie Hutchinson.[2] She later joined the West Indian Swing Stars, with Bertie King on saxophone, Coleridge Goode on bass, and Lauderic Caton on guitar.[2] She later worked with Frank's Spirits of Rhythm, with Jimmy Skidmore on tenor saxophone.[2]

She worked until the 1980s, when they moved to Málaga, Spain.[2]

Personal life

On 8 August 1936 she married Frank Deniz, guitarist and bandleader, at the church of St Mary the Virgin, Cardiff.[1] They had two daughters, Lorraine and Claire.[2]

Later life

In the 1980s, they moved to Málaga, but returned to the UK in the 1990s when she was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.[2] She died on 7 December 2002, in Whitford, Hertfordshire.[1]

gollark: I would prefer not to have to do complicated fiddly repairs.
gollark: I'm also somewhat worried about what happens if it breaks or something, given that support is probably annoying.
gollark: Well, do you know if they're available at sane prices in the UK?
gollark: Hmm.
gollark: Getting exotic techy stuff in the UK seems to be annoying.

References
  1. Wilmer, Val. "Clara Ethel (Clare) Deniz [née Wason] (1911–2002)". ONDB. OUP. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  2. Wilmer, Val (3 January 2003). "Obituary: Clare Deniz". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
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