George Howden was born in Edinburgh in 1948 and learned to play the trombone with the Salvation Army when he was 12 years old. He was born into a musical family, the youngest of three brothers - there was no TV in the house and they would often sit round the fireside singing and harmonising. (George's father was a talented tenor singer, as is his brother David.)
George also plays and teaches the acoustic guitar as well as composing and arranging his own music - having had plenty of practice arranging Trad Jazz tunes for bands of all shapes and sizes.
Having grown tired of sunshine and clement summers, George recently returned to live in Scotland. ...And the prodigal trombonist has once again fallen in with a bad crowd: George is working with jazz musicians in and around Edinburgh and The Borders, enjoying a flurry of popular gigs during both the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and the Edinburgh Festival proper.
Never a chap to let his trombone gather dust, George has never been short of gigs or bands - or of audiences to entertain. Whilst the terms “nomadic” and “bohemian” are rarely applied to a Scotsman with a moustache, George's earlier years proved the exception.
As at home in a Swing Band as he is playing solo guitar, or playing and arranging horns for an African Hi-Life band, George's career has rarely enjoyed a dull moment.
The (Original) Edinburgh Years
Despite his better judgement, George attended “Ainslie Park Senior Secondary Modern School”, near Granton. Whilst at school he formed a Jazz band called “The GAs” with Andy Grossart, as well as playing with the Leith Silver Band and the inevitable school orchestra.
His late teens saw George as playing trombone with the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra, though during these two years he could also be found playing guitar and performing folk music at various clubs and pubs in and around Edinburgh...
During this ten-year period George played trombone with no shortage of bands. Those memorable enough to be recalled include:
The Pete Martin All Stars - a popular Edinburgh mainstream band.
The Charlie McNair Band - Charlie was a legendary bandleader in Edinburgh at this time.
Mama Flyer - a jazz/rock band that played in and around Edinburgh for a number of months.
There was also a Cabaret Tour with Joe Brown, and a whole host of less memorable and unglamourous “professional gigs” that included Orchestra work, Theatre-pit gigs and similar.
London...
(The fact that he can remember any of it means he probably wasn't there)
George moved to London when he was 25 years old, encouraged by Sandy Brown, a famous band leader at the time, and his friend Alex Marshall (later to be known as Frank Franks or The Earbrass & Franks Orkestra).
On moving to London George temporarily shelved his trombone and played guitar, composed songs and sang in wine bars and folk festivals including the Cambridge Folk Festival with Paddy Grey, a female singer he was employed by at the time.
George also toured and recorded with Al Matthews, and is featured on the disco hit record “Fool”.
For reasons known only to them, Alex (aka Frank Franks) and George decided to create The Earbrass & Franks Orkestra and subsequently spent two months playing jazz at a venue in Cadaques, Spain. George's friend from Edinburgh, Andy Munro (aka Mr Boom), travelled out to Spain with them and played electric bass, before they were joined by Emile La Chambre on clarinet, - who happened to be staying in Cadaques at the time. A surreal moment, even by George's standards, the highlight of the trip came when the band was invited to play jazz for Salvador Dali and his wife Gala at their villa.
Upon return to England George decided to concentrate his efforts on the trombone once more, and formed his own jazz band Howden's Hotshots with Alex. The band recorded the single “Ice Cream” as well as a number of tracks for Radio 2.
A working musician, George undertook an array of Theatre work as well as playing trombone with any number of working jazz bands in and around London.
At the end of the 70s, the bright lights of television briefly beckoned as George took part in episode 5 of the BBC production “Pennies from Heaven”(written by Dennis Potter) where he played trombone accompanying a busker and a sand dancer...
Howden's Hotshots landed a resident gig at London's Kensington Hilton, playing every Sunday over a seven-year period. George played with a range of well-known professional musicians, including Roy Williams, Brian Lemon and Henry McKenzie.
In the early 1980s George joined a band called the Ivory Coasters. They were successful and were chosen by Prince Nico Mbarga to back him at the first WOMAD festival. The band toured the country playing mainly at colleges and universities, enjoyed great popularity and had their music championed by Radio 1's John Peel. (The Ivory Coasters disbanded a few years later).
Played at a range of venues in the country with Howden's Hotshots.
In 1997 the band made a live recording at the Theatre Royal, Portsmouth, masterminded by Derek Easdon. The recording is still available from all good record stores...
Edinburgh (again...)
George has joined Swing Supreme, a (swing) band run by Ian Boyter, and will be travelling to Turkey in September to play with them as a resident band.
Having recently played gigs during the Edinburgh Festival, and Edinburgh's Blues & Jazz Festival, George is currently working on meeting musicians in the Scottish Borders with a view to forming a new band... watch this space.
George Howden was born in Edinburgh in 1948 and learned to play the trombone with the Salvation Army when he was 12 years old. He was born into a musical family, the youngest of three brothers - there was no TV in the house and they would often sit round the fireside singing and harmonising. (George's father was a talented tenor singer, as is his brother David.)
Never a chap to let his trombone gather dust, George has never been short of gigs or bands - or of audiences to entertain. Whilst the terms “nomadic” and “bohemian” are rarely applied to a Scotsman with a moustache, George's earlier years proved the exception.
During this ten-year period George played trombone with no shortage of bands. Those memorable enough to be recalled include:
Howden's Hotshots landed a resident gig at London's Kensington Hilton, playing every Sunday over a seven-year period. George played with a range of well-known professional musicians, including Roy Williams, Brian Lemon and Henry McKenzie.
Played at a range of venues in the country with Howden's Hotshots.