Jack Coles (musician)

John Robert Coles (28 April 1914 – 24 April 1991) was a British composer, arranger, and conductor of light music best known for his composition Tyrolean Tango. Coles often composed under the pen-name 'Paul Stewart' and 'Paul Vincent'.[1]

This article is about the British musician. For the Australian athlete, see Jack Coles (athlete). For the Canadian publisher and businessman, see Jack Isadore Cole (businessman).
Jack Coles
Coles at the Royal Festival Hall in 1958
Background information
Birth nameJohn Robert Coles
Also known asPaul Stewart, Paul Vincent
Born(1914-04-28)April 28, 1914
London, U.K.
DiedApril 24, 1991(1991-04-24) (aged 76)
London, U.K.
GenresLight music
Occupation(s)
  • Arranger
  • trumpeter
  • composer
  • conductor
InstrumentsTrumpet
Years active1933–1991
Associated acts
  • BBC Midland Light Orchestra
  • King's Royal Rifle Corps
  • British Band of the AEF
  • Music Masters
  • Orchestre Moderne

Early life and education

Jack Coles was born in London and began music at an early age. After studying the trumpet at the Royal Military School of Music from 1933 to 1934 and winning the "Gold Cup" for best all-round pupil, Coles played with leading British dance bands until the outbreak of war in 1939, when he enlisted in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.[2]

Career

After his time in the Rifle Corps, Jack Coles enrolled in the British Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (AEF), where he played trumpet and arranged for its conductor, George Melachrino. In 1946, Coles started broadcasting for the BBC Radio with the 'Music Masters', a short-lived ten-piece dance band.[2] He went on to form, at the request of the BBC, a larger, 22-piece light orchestra named 'Jack Coles and his Orchestre Moderne' which lasted over a decade. This orchestra did over 200 broadcasts for BBC Radio, appearing in light orchestral programs such as 'Melody Hour', 'Morning Music' and, 'Music While You Work'.[3] In 1958, Coles was invited to the BBC Festival of Light Music at the Royal Festival Hall in London. By this time, he was guest-conducting for various BBC Regional Light Orchestras and touring Holland with the BBC Studio Choir.[4] One of these regional orchestras, the BBC Midland Light Orchestra (MLO), had been without a permanent conductor since early 1959. In August of the following year, the BBC appointed Jack Coles as the principal conductor of the MLO, a post he held until 1972.[5]

Music

Style

Throughout the 20th century, Jack Coles composed and arranged light orchestral music for radio, television, film, and stage productions. He evolved a distinctly modern rhythmic style and composed both contemporary light music and popular standards of the time. His arrangements incorporated more and more jazz as time went on, which contrasted the traditional style of light music conducted by Gilbert Vinter (a co-conductor of the Midland Light Orchestra until 1969).[2]

Coles in 1966

Coles's musical taste ranged from swing to operatic and symphonic works.[6]

Compositions

Jack Coles's best known composition, "Tyrolean Tango", written under the pen-name of Paul Stewart, was recorded in England by George Melachrino and in the United States by Duke Ellington, re-titled "The Echo Tango".[7]

His other numerous compositions include:

  • Fan Tan, The Girl From Cadiz, Parakeets and Peacocks, Positano, Procida, Sparky, Cowbell Polka, and Joy Ride[2]
  • A Day at the Zoo, Dance of the Dragonflies, Casbah, Puppet March, Seaside Special, and Riverboat Serenade[5]
  • Mexican Serenade, Dude Ranch, Dance of the Pan-pipes, and Celebration Waltz[8]
  • Gentle Persuasion, The Nightrider, and Elegy[4]

Retirement and death

In 1972, Jack Coles retired to Positano, Italy. However, he returned to London around ten years later and conducted in two editions of a revived series of ‘Music While You Work’ for BBC Radio.[9] Jack Coles died on April 24, 1991, four days before his 77th birthday.

Legacy

Jack Coles's musicianship, program-building, and conducting ability were held in high regard by the BBC and earned him a favorable reputation. Coles was also known for his generosity, as he often aided struggling musicians financially.[6]

gollark: As far as I'm aware the basic principle is just that a force is exerted on current-carrying wires in magnetic fields because the fields interact or something.
gollark: For the first one, the half life is 30 years and the time is 90 years. So it's 3 half lives (90/30) so its mass halves 3 times, so the mass at the end is 1\*(1/2)\*(1/2)\*(1/2)=1\*(1/2)³=0.125.
gollark: It's how long it takes for half of the atoms in a thing of radioactive isotope to decay.
gollark: Just work out how many half lives the given time is, then divide the starting mass by 2 to the power of however many half lives it is.
gollark: Sounds more like physics.

References
  1. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. 1958.
  2. "Jack Coles and his Orchestre Moderne". www.mastersofmelody.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  3. Ades, David (2015). "The Golden Age of Light Music" (PDF). www.chandos.net. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  4. The Gramophone Company Ltd. “The Music of Jack Coles.” Yahoo! Auctions, Yahoo Hong Kong, www.hk.auctions.yahoo.com. Auctioned by user 'touchingmusic.' Album printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse in 1966. Retrieved 2018-12-28
  5. "A 98th GARLAND OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC COMPOSERS". www.musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  6. Leader, Howard (January 27, 2017). "BBC Midland Light Orchestra". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  7. "Ellington Centennial: Recalling Shift in Popular Tastes". movies2.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  8. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. 1958.
  9. "Jack Coles in MELODY HOUR". The Radio Times (1872). 1959-09-25. p. 25. ISSN 0033-8060. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
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