Born on 21 June 1924 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Fawkes relocated to Britain in early childhood. During the mid-1940s he joined George Webb’s pioneering ensemble, one of the first groups to draw widespread notice amid the trad-jazz surge. In 1947 he departed Webb’s ranks alongside Humphrey Lyttelton, helping to establish the latter’s freshly formed band; the partnership endured until 1956 and proved mutually enriching for players and listeners. Once that association ended, Fawkes worked under various bandleaders such as Bruce Turner and Sandy Brown, appearing on sessions for each in 1954 and 1956 respectively—both later combined on a 1989 reissue—while also directing his own part-time outfit, the Troglodytes, whose relaxed swing set it apart from the more rigid ensembles then common on the British trad circuit. A highly skilled clarinettist shaped by Sidney Bechet’s example, Fawkes became a leading figure in the trad scene yet elected to work independently, favoring low-profile London pubs. For many years he also supplied the drawings, signed “Trog,” for the Daily Mail cartoon strip “Flook,” whose scripts were supplied by vocalist George Melly. He maintained an intermittent recording presence through the 1980s and 1990s, producing several strong albums that included returns to the studio with Lyttelton and with Ian Christie, another longstanding colleague from the peak years of British traditional jazz.
