Alan Dean discography...
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Alan Dean discography...
Alan Dean 1948 Born in 1924, Alan Dean was a vocalist and typical figure of the immediate post war band era, working with the premier bands, big and small, along the way forming the Song Pedlars vocal group. He later updated the vocal group concept by forming the Keynotes, Alan personally winning the Melody Maker poll two years running. He had a light toned ballad voice but he was also a bopper and in this context composed some fast moving but melodic bop lines notably Galaxy and First Gear using his voice as an additional horn, plus some scatting.

He was the nominal leader of the All Star Sextet which made it's debut at the Downbeat Club on March 14th, 1948. The declared intention of the Sextet was to play only bebop and it was probably the first UK bebop-orientated group to play the clubs, they certainly played enough to qualify as a regular group.

Picture of the All Star Sextet Click...
Aubrey Frank, Alan Dean, Reg Arnold and Norman Burns.
Ralph Sharon, Tommy Pollard and Jack Fallon.

There were three genuine 'boppers' (Dean, Sharon and Pollard) in the group. The others were big band or night club musicians seeking relief from their bread and butter work and keen to learn the new bebop. The group was popular at the Feldman Swing Club and also got to broadcast for the BBC Overeas Service. Esquire recorded the band very early in it's life, the outstanding soloists on these 1948 titles were Ralph Sharon and Tommy Pollard. This was the only time that Pollard was recorded playing vibes and his superb playing stands above everything else to be heard, his feature on I Can't Get Started is a masterpiece. The music recorded on these two sessions is arguably the first overtly British bebop group to be heard on record.
The 'Beboppers' recordings for Decca were the first bebop records issued by a major record company. Later in the year the 'Beboppers' repeated most of the titles over the air but the recording was not issued for nearly 40 years. The personnel was the same except that boppers Hank Shaw and Tommy Pollard replaced Reg Arnold and Bernie Fenton. Alan Dean emigrated to America in September, 1951 and began a successful career. By the 1980s he was resident in Australia.


The recordings made on April 17th, 1948 : January 15th, 1949 and September 17th, 1949 were not released until 1987, nearly forty years after they had been recorded. They appeared on an Esquire LP - "My baby likes to bebop"...
Alan Dean and the All Star Sextet - April 17th, 1948 (Esquire)
Aubrey Frank (ts), Reg Arnold (tp), Ralph Sharon (p), Tommy Pollard (vib), Jack Fallon (b), Norman Burns (d), Alan Dean (vocal).
Oop-pop-a da#/Disc Jockey Jump.
(#Hallmark CD - Basement Bop - British jazz in the 1950s)

April 29th, 1948 (Esquire)
Personnel as April 17th.
Galaxy*/I Can't Get Started*#/First Gear*/Confirmation*.
(*Charly/Esquire 4 CD box set - bebop IN BRITAIN - issued in 1991 currently only available second hand...)
(#Hallmark CD - Basement Bop - British jazz in the 1950s)
(#Proper Records 4CD Box set - Jazz in Britain 1919 - 1950)

May 8th, 1948 (Esquire)
Personnel as April, 17th
My Baby Likes To Bebop*/Disc Jockey Jump*/Fallonology*/Jack Fiddles While Norman Burns*.
(*Charly/Esquire 4 CD box set - bebop IN BRITAIN - issued in 1991 currently only available second hand...)

January 15th, 1949 (Esquire)
Personnel as April 17th, 1948 except Kenny Baker (tp) replaces Reg Arnold.
Gabardine And Serge/First Gear.
(These titles have never been re-issued in CD format but are available on CD via this website...)

Alan Dean's Beboppers - April 29th, 1949 (Decca)
Ronnie Scott (ts), Johnny Dankworth (as), Reg Arnold (tp), Bernie Fenton (p), Pete Chilver (g), Joe Muddel (b), Laurie Morgan (d), Alan Dean (vocal).
Gone With The Windmill (take 1)*/Gone With The Windmill (take 2)*/Barbados*/Elevenses*/Ool-Ya-Koo*.
(*Jasmine CD - Bop-in' Britain Vol 1)

Alan Dean's Beboppers - September 17th, 1949 (Esquire)
Ronnie Scott (ts), Johnny Dankworth (as), Hank Shaw (tp), Tommy Pollard (p), Pete Chilver (g), Joe Muddel (b), Laurie Morgan (d), Alan Dean (vocal).
Gone With The Windmill*^/Barbados*^/Elevenses*/Ool Ya Koo*^/Galaxy*#.
(#Giant Steps Records CD - Great Scott)
(*Charly/Esquire 4 CD box set - bebop IN BRITAIN - issued in 1991 currently only available second hand...)
(^Indigo CD - Boppin' At Esquire)
(*Proper Records 4CD Box set - Ronnie Scott "Boppin' With Scott")


This page was last updated during September, 2015.
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