Tommy McQuater

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Tommy McQuater
Birth name	Thomas Mossie McQuater
Born	September 4, 1914(1914-09-04)
Origin	Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland
Died	January 20, 2008 (aged 93)
Genre(s)	Jazz
Instrument(s)	trumpet flugelhorn
Associated acts	George Chisholm

Thomas Mossie "Tommy" McQuater (September 4, 1914 – January 20, 2008) was a Scottish jazz trumpeter.

Born in Maybole, Ayrshire, McQuater was most notable for his work in Britain with Bert Ambrose in the 1930s, and also for some recordings done with George Chisholm and Benny Carter.

McQuater showed musical talent from an early age. Largely self taught, he began on the cornet and by the age of 11 was a regular member of the Maybole Burgh Band – a brass band that won several competitions in the late 1920s – and played at local events and dances. McQuater turned professional in his teens and got a regular position with Louis Freeman's Band, which played at Green's Playhouse in Glasgow.

In 1934, aged 20, McQuater was offered a job with one of London's most renowned bands: the Jack Payne Orchestra, which played in London and Paris. The following year he joined Lew Stone's band and made the classic recording of Pardon Me, Pretty Baby.

In the 1940s McQuater joined The Squadronaires, and worked with the "BBC Showband" in 1945. McQuater often performed with John McLevy in the 1970s and 1980s. In his later years McQuater concentrated his energy and playing around the Ealing Jazz Festival.