James Blades

James "Jimmy" Blades OBE (9 September 1901 – 19 May 1999) was an English percussionist.[1][2][3]

He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with long and varied career. His book Percussion Instruments and their History (1971) is a standard reference work on the subject [1][2]

Blades was born in Peterborough, England in 1901.[2] He was a long-time associate of Benjamin Britten, with whom he conceived many of the composer's unusual percussion effects. In 1954, Blades was appointed Professor of Percussion in the Royal Academy of Music.[1][2]

As a chamber musician he played with the Melos Ensemble and with the English Chamber Orchestra.[1]

Blades' pupils included the rock drummers Carl Palmer and Richard James Burgess as well as the percussionist Evelyn Glennie.[1][2]

His most famous and widely heard performances were the sound of the African drum playing "V-for-Victory" in Morse code- the introduction to the BBC broadcasts made to the European Resistance during World War II,[1][2] and providing the sound of the gong seen at the start of films produced by the Rank Organisation. Blades played this sound on a tam-tam. On screen Blades's sound was mimed to by the "Gongman",

His autobiography Drum Roll: A Professional Adventure from the Circus to the Concert Hall was published by Faber & Faber in 1977.[4]

Bibliography

Obituary

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Michael Skinner, In Memoriam: James Blades OBE, Percussive Arts Society, 1999. Retrieved August 8, 2007. Link dead as of 4 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Nick Ravo, "James Blades Is Dead at 97; a Percussionist for Victory", The New York Times (May 25, 1999). Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  3. ^ James Blades biographical notice F.D. Fairchild 1999
  4. ^ Nielsen BookData ISBN 9780571101078