Biography
Born around 1930 in England, Emblow took up the accordion at eleven and quickly displayed exceptional technical command. He turned professional at fifteen, drawing material from an unusually broad spectrum that ranged across popular idioms and light classical pieces alike. Recording sessions brought him into contact with performers spanning multiple eras and styles, among them the Beatles.
His rapport with jazz players proved enduring. The 1960s found him alongside George Chisholm; the 1970s paired him with John McLevy, Don Lusher, Ronnie Verrell and Ike Isaacs. In the 1980s he worked with Alan Barnes, Gordon Beck, Gary Potter and Toots Thielemans, while the 1990s saw frequent appearances beside Martin Taylor, including joint recordings with Stéphane Grappelli and performances with Taylor’s Spirit Of Django ensemble. Early and middle years of the following decade found him reuniting with longtime colleague Tony Compton and collaborating with Claire Martin; earlier vocal partnerships had included Ann Burton and Sandra King.
Festival stages hosted him regularly, most prominently at Cork, and he toured concert halls on several continents. In 2005 he joined Swing Something Simple—also featuring clarinettist Dave Shepherd and vibraphonist Roger Nobes—at the Reading Real Ale and Jazz festival. The group’s name nodded to his long tenure with Cliff Adams’s BBC radio programme Sing Something Simple, which began on the Light Programme in 1959 and featured Emblow leading its resident quartet.
Beyond radio, his session work extended to film and television scoring. He supplied incidental music for the 1967 series The Old Campaigner and for The Canal Children in 1976, and he contributed theme and background music to A Year In Provence, Maigret, Bergerac, ’Allo ’Allo and Last Of The Summer Wine. The British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors presented him with its Gold Badge of Merit For Music in recognition of his achievements. In 2001 the National Accordion Organization of the UK named him its Honorary President, honouring his sustained influence on the instrument. At times he explored an electronically modified accordion known as the transichord.
Although he issued relatively few albums under his own name, Emblow participated in hundreds of recording dates, some led by Ted Heath, Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini, Jack Parnell and Nelson Riddle.
His rapport with jazz players proved enduring. The 1960s found him alongside George Chisholm; the 1970s paired him with John McLevy, Don Lusher, Ronnie Verrell and Ike Isaacs. In the 1980s he worked with Alan Barnes, Gordon Beck, Gary Potter and Toots Thielemans, while the 1990s saw frequent appearances beside Martin Taylor, including joint recordings with Stéphane Grappelli and performances with Taylor’s Spirit Of Django ensemble. Early and middle years of the following decade found him reuniting with longtime colleague Tony Compton and collaborating with Claire Martin; earlier vocal partnerships had included Ann Burton and Sandra King.
Festival stages hosted him regularly, most prominently at Cork, and he toured concert halls on several continents. In 2005 he joined Swing Something Simple—also featuring clarinettist Dave Shepherd and vibraphonist Roger Nobes—at the Reading Real Ale and Jazz festival. The group’s name nodded to his long tenure with Cliff Adams’s BBC radio programme Sing Something Simple, which began on the Light Programme in 1959 and featured Emblow leading its resident quartet.
Beyond radio, his session work extended to film and television scoring. He supplied incidental music for the 1967 series The Old Campaigner and for The Canal Children in 1976, and he contributed theme and background music to A Year In Provence, Maigret, Bergerac, ’Allo ’Allo and Last Of The Summer Wine. The British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors presented him with its Gold Badge of Merit For Music in recognition of his achievements. In 2001 the National Accordion Organization of the UK named him its Honorary President, honouring his sustained influence on the instrument. At times he explored an electronically modified accordion known as the transichord.
Although he issued relatively few albums under his own name, Emblow participated in hundreds of recording dates, some led by Ted Heath, Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini, Jack Parnell and Nelson Riddle.
Albums
