Biography
Johnny Claes embodied a distinctly European strain of jazz that emerged only in England during the interwar years. Born in 1916 to a Belgian father and a Scottish mother from two affluent households, this British trumpeter and bandleader built his reputation in the years surrounding the Second World War. Music attracted him early; by the opening of the 1930s he was studying with Nat Gonella, already counted among England’s leading jazz trumpeters. Professional work began in 1935 when, still nineteen, he appeared at London’s Nest Club. Two years afterward he made his first recordings for English Decca alongside Gerry Moore.
Because he spoke both French and English and maintained family and commercial ties throughout western Europe, Claes moved freely among leading swing and jazz ensembles in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium during the later 1930s. While staying in Holland in the summer of 1937 he also sat in with one of the groups Coleman Hawkins fronted during his long European residence. The 1939 outbreak of war returned him to England, where he resumed activity in a London darkened by blackouts and threatened with the closure of its clubs and cinemas. In spring 1940 he performed at the Boogie Woogie Club, then joined the Teddy Joyce Orchestra before launching his own group early in 1941.
Even under wartime restrictions on performance and recording, Claes established the reputation of his ensemble, known variously as the Clay Pigeons or Clae Pigeons, over the following four years. Although most British bands and listeners favored Dixieland, or “trad,” he assembled a roster of forward-looking players that included Ronnie Scott, Tommy Pollard, Norman Stenfalt, Harry Hayes, and Kenny Graham, rendering his unit one of the era’s more progressive outfits. Several notable sides were cut for EMI. By the war’s close, however, his musical enthusiasm had waned. Belgium’s liberation reopened a family enterprise, and automobile racing soon claimed his attention. In 1947 he worked as interpreter for British entrants at the French Grand Prix; thereafter he competed regularly himself. Although he ceased performing, he operated a London club and contributed to Belgium’s Jazz Hot magazine, yet his principal public role became that of driver. He entered numerous Grand Prix events from 1948 through 1955, one of which—a 1951 crash at San Remo—received worldwide press coverage. Health decline set in during the middle fifties, variously attributed to tuberculosis or cancer, and he died early in 1956 at the conclusion of a varied thirty-nine-year life.
Because he spoke both French and English and maintained family and commercial ties throughout western Europe, Claes moved freely among leading swing and jazz ensembles in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium during the later 1930s. While staying in Holland in the summer of 1937 he also sat in with one of the groups Coleman Hawkins fronted during his long European residence. The 1939 outbreak of war returned him to England, where he resumed activity in a London darkened by blackouts and threatened with the closure of its clubs and cinemas. In spring 1940 he performed at the Boogie Woogie Club, then joined the Teddy Joyce Orchestra before launching his own group early in 1941.
Even under wartime restrictions on performance and recording, Claes established the reputation of his ensemble, known variously as the Clay Pigeons or Clae Pigeons, over the following four years. Although most British bands and listeners favored Dixieland, or “trad,” he assembled a roster of forward-looking players that included Ronnie Scott, Tommy Pollard, Norman Stenfalt, Harry Hayes, and Kenny Graham, rendering his unit one of the era’s more progressive outfits. Several notable sides were cut for EMI. By the war’s close, however, his musical enthusiasm had waned. Belgium’s liberation reopened a family enterprise, and automobile racing soon claimed his attention. In 1947 he worked as interpreter for British entrants at the French Grand Prix; thereafter he competed regularly himself. Although he ceased performing, he operated a London club and contributed to Belgium’s Jazz Hot magazine, yet his principal public role became that of driver. He entered numerous Grand Prix events from 1948 through 1955, one of which—a 1951 crash at San Remo—received worldwide press coverage. Health decline set in during the middle fifties, variously attributed to tuberculosis or cancer, and he died early in 1956 at the conclusion of a varied thirty-nine-year life.