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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZPARNELL, Jack(b 6 August 1923, London; d 8 August 2010) One of Britain's finest jazz drummers, turning pro as a teenager. He had formed a long-standing relationship with the Ted Heath band by 1945, also sang and led his own band-within-a-band, later his own big band including show Fancy Free '51. He played with Louis Armstrong '56 as well as many other visiting Americans; meanwhile he studied conducting and became head of music at ATV when commercial TV began in Britain, leading his own band there for over 20 years. He also worked with reedman Tommy Whittle (b 13 October 1926, Scotland; d 5 October 2013), Bob Wilber, Ruby Braff, Annie Ross, Best of British Jazz in the '90s, etc. The Parnells have brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people: Jack's youngest son Marc Parnell (b 4 July 1961, London) has worked with Cayenne, Joan Armatrading etc and was a busy jazz drummer in the '90s; middle son Will Parnell (b 13 September 1958) works in advertising on the music side; eldest R. J. 'Rick' Parnell (b 13 August 1951, lives in Los Angeles) played with Atomic Rooster, Horse, Nova and other acts and was the drummer in spoof film This Is Spinal Tap (including the hilarious interview in the bathtub). Jack continued gigging in East Anglia, making fans happy at the Red Lion in Norwich, until he suffered from a long illness. |