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*The fabulous “Pizza Express Jazz Club”-Soho-W1 & the entertaining Chris Ingham Quintet gig

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Geoff Clements Posted in Music .

 

 

Last week saw ‘London Shoes’ make two trips out to the big bad ‘smoke’ – the first being the already covered-off visit to the famous ‘Groucho Club’ – the second, on the following evening, was spookily to the very same street in Soho, and a location that was once of the very first establishment in London to serve up ‘Pizza’ as a ‘main’ item on a menu – and the purpose of visiting there, was to catch my old drum teacher ‘Gentleman’ George Double who was performing a gig down in the basement of the establishment in question.

So – my 2nd ‘Shoes’ blog this week is all about the renowned and extremely popular “Pizza Express Jazz Club” in Dean Street-Soho-London W1.

Although Italian restaurants had existed in London since the early 1800’s, pizza itself was never an item on the menus.

As time progressed and peoples tastes changed, pizza was available as a ‘food’ but could only be found and bought as singular items from the food halls of big department stores like Harrods & Selfridges etc – but never as a ‘dish’ in a restaurant.

It wasn’t until much much later in 1965, that London’s very first ‘Pizzeria’ opened – and the man who made all that happen was one “Peter Boizot”.

Peter Boizot (1929-2018) was an Englishman who had first discovered the delights of ‘Pizza’ whilst travelling around Europe in the 1940’s – but he was continually disappointed that there were no restaurants in London that served up a pizza as a main menu choice – in the way that they did in restaurants in all the main City’s throughout Europe.

So – to solve this matter, in 1965 Boizot decided to open up his own ‘Pizzeria’ in Wardour Street-Soho – the very first one of its kind in London.

In 1969, only 4 years after opening his first Pizzeria restaurant in Wardour St, Boizot invested in a large and magnificent old 1878 Victorian building in Dean Street-Soho, that had once been occupied by the ‘Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear’ – and being a mad fan of jazz music, he began looking at ways in which he could put on ‘live’ jazz music whilst his customers munched away at their pizza’s – and his new Dean Street restaurant was the ideal venue, as it had a large basement – and as a result, the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ was born.

 

The Jazz Club with its combined eatery soon became extremely popular with the punters – and all the top UK jazz stars of the day were queuing up to play there. By the mid 1970’s the big jazz acts from the USA began topping the bill there.

 

Today – every wall in this basement jazz club is adorned with photos of all the jazz performers who have played there over the years.

However – it wasn’t just pizza’s that Peter Boizot was famous for – the other big love in his life was his home town of Peterborough.

Born and raised in Peterborough he became a choirboy at Peterborough Cathedral and also Head Boy at the City’s prestigious Kings College.

Throughout his entire life he was extremely generous and charitable to his home town. He bought his beloved ‘Peterborough United Football Club’ when it was close to folding, and he immediately ploughed millions of £’s into it – He also did the very same with Peterborough’s famous ‘Broadway Theatre’, turning it into one of the top Theatre’s outside of London.

 

He became owner of the towns iconic 1852 built Victorian ‘Great Northern Hotel’ which stands directly opposite the entrance to Peterborough mainline railway station, and immediately financed a an expensive facelift of this historic old building.

 

Peter Boizot also got into politics in a big way as a Liberal Candidate – and was awarded an MBE in 1986 for his political and public services.

His 2014 biography is entitled “Mr. Pizza & all that Jazz”  – but for those who knew him and who lived around the area, he will always be known as ‘Mr. Peterborough’.

 

So – returning to the reason as to why London Shoes made the trip to the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ – my old drum tutor ‘Gentleman’ George Double, from the time when I was manager of Barclays Bank-Mare St Hackney in the mid 1990’s onwards – was thumping the tubs for the excellent and entertaining ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ who were performing their highly acclaimed ‘Rebop’ set of music inspired by the late legendary jazz musician and composer ‘Horace Silver’ (1928-2014).

Horace Silver was one of the all time great jazz pianists throughout the 40’s-50’s-60’s and beyond, who had a major influence on jazz music throughout his and future generation.

He spent 28 years making records with the famous ‘Blue Note’ jazz record label, plus many other jazz labels.

Horace Silver passed away in 2014 at the age of 86, but left a vast legacy of work comprising of some 36 studio albums – 3 ‘live’ albums plus 7 compilation albums, containing all time jazz classics such as ‘Song for my Father’ – ‘Doodlin’ – ‘Peace’ – ‘Sister Sadie’ – ‘The Jody Grind’ – ‘Serenade to a Soul Sister’ plus many many more.

The ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ for this Pizza Express Jazz Club gig comprised of George Double on drums – Paul Higgs on trumpet – Colin Watling on sax – Arnie Somogyi on double bass and of course Chris Ingham himself on piano.

The band banged out two 50min sets of Horace Silver classics to an extremely enthusiastic and appreciative audience down in the Pizza Express basement, and certainly did justice to old Horace Silver’s legacy of music.

The great thing about Chris Ingham is that all the way through the set he provides a detailed and interesting running commentary between numbers – giving the audience facts such as when the numbers were recorded, who played on the original recordings, any unusual circumstances or history behind the songs themselves – So you don’t necessarily need to be a big fan, or know a lot about jazz when watching the band perform – because by the time the gig is over, you will certainly know a lot more than you did before the shows started.

The atmosphere and ambience down in the Pizza Express basement creates such a fantastic vibe – which I am guessing is probably similar to that in the famous ‘jazz joints’ of New York, Chicago and New Orleans.

So what better way for London Shoes to spend an evening – than to be down in the Pizza Express Jazz Club basement – munching away on a tasty margherita pizza – necking down a few bottles of chilled Peroni beer – whilst watching the Chris Ingham Quintet (with me old mate ‘Gentleman’ George Double thumping tubs) knocking out jazz classics, and keeping the old ‘Billy Bunters’ thoroughly entertained.

Hope you enjoyed this article and are now all jazzed-up in your zoot suit and ready to go

See the full selection of photos accompanying the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ blog below

Dean Street-Soho-London W1 – The location of the “Pizza Express Jazz Club”

 

In 1969, only 4 years after opening his initial restaurant – Boizot bought a large magnificent old 1878 Victorian building in Dean Street-Soho, that had once been occupied by the ‘Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear’

The empty stage down in the basement of the “Pizza Express Jazz Club” – Dean Street-Soho

 

Me – on the ‘tubs’, pre-gig – on the stage of the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’

 

The empty Pizza Express Jazz Club stage – pre-gig

 

Every wall in the Pizza Express basement jazz club is adorned with photos of all the jazz performers who have played there.

 

Every wall in the Pizza Express basement jazz club is adorned with photos of all the jazz performers who have played there.

 

The Pizza Express Jazz Club – pre-gig & pre-punters

 

The ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ being put through their paces on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club during the sound-check

 

The ‘Chris Ingham Quintet’ during their sound-check – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

Me – with the Chris Ingham Quintet doing their sound check – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet doing their ‘Rebop’ set sound check

 

The punters start to arrive and take their seats (and eat their pizza) at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

The late Horace Silver was one of the all-time great jazz pianists – who left a vast legacy of work comprising of some 36 studio albums – 3 ‘live’ albums – 7 compilation albums, containing all time jazz classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

Chris Ingham – tickling the ivories on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet’s Colin Watling – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

Me – sneaking in a ‘cheeky’ Peroni before the start of the bands 2nd set of jazz legend Horace Silver’s classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

Chris Ingham provides a detailed and interesting running commentary between numbers – that covers off facts such as when the numbers were recorded, who played on the original recordings, any unusual circumstances or history behind the songs themselves – So- you don’t necessarily need to be a big fan, or know a lot about jazz when watching the band perform – because by the time the gig is over, you will certainly know a lot more than you did before the shows started.

 

Horace Silver was one of the all-time great jazz pianists throughout the last 40’s-50’s-60’s and beyond, who had a major influence on jazz music throughout his generation and beyond. He spent 28 years making records with the famous ‘Blue Note’ jazz record label, plus many other jazz labels.

 

Paul Higgs of the Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

Me old mate ‘Gentleman’ George Double – thumping the tubs for the Chris Ingham Quintet – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho – knocking out their set of Horace Silver classics

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – ‘live’ on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

Chris Ingham ‘at the mic’ and continuing to provide a detailed and interesting running commentary between numbers

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – continue to enthuse the audience with Horace Silver classics – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club-Soho

 

The late great ‘Peter Boizot’ – (aka Mr Pizza and/or Mr Peterborough) – and the founder of Pizza Express & it’s Jazz Club

 

Throughout Peter Boizot’s life he was extremely generous and charitable to his home town of Peterborough. He even bought his beloved ‘Peterborough United Football Club’ when it was close to folding, and immediately ploughed millions of £’s into it

 

Peterborough United Football Club – once owner by Peter Boizot

 

Peterborough’s iconic 1852 built Victorian ‘Great Northern Hotel’ which stands directly opposite the entrance to Peterborough mainline railway station – once owned by Peter Boizot

 

Peter Boizot was once the owner of Peterborough’s iconic 1852 built Victorian ‘Great Northern Hotel’ which stands directly opposite the entrance to Peterborough mainline railway station.

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – draw their energizing set to its finale

 

The Chris Ingham Quintet – take a bow at the end of their enthusiastically received ‘Rebop’ set – at the Pizza Express Jazz Club

Me & ‘Gentleman’ George Double post-gig – in the shadows of the Pizza Express Jazz Club stage

 

Me – sneaking down a cheeky final Peroni down in the basement of the Pizza Express Jazz Club – before heading off into the Soho night, and back to home

 

Me & ‘Gentleman’ George Double bid a final farewell post-gig – down in the basement of the Pizza Express Jazz Club

 

Leaving the Pizza Express Jazz Club, and out into the warm (and very late night) Soho air – making my way back home, following a really entertaining evening 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 Comments
« *A celebratory lunch at the world famous “Groucho Club”-Dean Street-Soho-W1
*The history of “Kensington Palace” – one of London’s most magnificent Royal residencies »

2 Responses

  1. jack leathem says
    August 25, 2019 at 4:24 pm

    Great to see your article on Peter Boisoit. I was part of the first jazz band to play at the Pizza Express in Dean St. We were OK but not great and we told Peter who we all liked a lot to get a good British Rhythm section and then book good American musicians. He did this and I think Bud Freeman was the first US player to visit. Peter was one of the good guys and supported us well. Happy memories!

    Reply
    • Geoff Clements says
      August 27, 2019 at 7:08 am

      Hello Jack,
      I just wanted to thank you for taking the time and trouble to provide feedback on my Pizza Express blog – I am very grateful to you, and it is so reassuring to me that you enjoyed reading the article.

      Your story regarding your connection to the Pizza Express venue and to Peter Boizot, is fascinating – and you must have some fantastic memories from that time.

      I have a big passion for music, and through my current connections I am having the pleasure of discovering all these old London jazz venues – In fact, there are a number of ‘jazz’ related blogs that I have conducted in recent months, which you can find within the ‘Music’ category on my London Shoes website menu, if you are interested.

      Once again – thank you so much for your feedback, really appreciate it.
      GEOFF (London Shoes)

      Reply

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