A swing piece from 1979

[ted]

I wrote "Portrait Of Llewelyn Jones" shortly after my teacher's death. It embodies something of his professional style. He was a multi-faceted musician, being a prominent serious composer, a concert pianist, a jazz pianist, a violinist, a conductor and a teacher. He was also a phenomenal improviser and sometimes my lessons comprised little else.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

This swing piece is cool.  You played it very convincingly too.  Wow, 1979, wish I could go back to that year, maybe for a week anyway!  In his wide breadth talents and accomplishments, Mr. Jones brings to mind the late Leonard Bernstein.  Very few are equipped to do so much in so many different ways. 

[ted]

Thanks David. Without Llew's encouraging, highly unorthodox tuition, friendship and sense of fun I doubt I would have persisted in music. I owe him quite a lot really. I shall record myself playing some of his pieces soon; they are a bit rough at present.

Llew was something of a polymath in other ways too. He was a master cabinetmaker and builder, specialising in spiral staircases. He fought at Gallipoli in the first world war and was blown up with his violin on his back. He survived, the violin did not. His friends among famous musicians were numerous to the point of my thinking he fabricated stories. However, after his death his widow showed me correspondence which confirmed them.