Trombonist Eddie Harvey helped establish the trad jazz scene in Britain as a reliable founding member of several important ensembles including George Webb's Dixielanders and the Johnny Dankworth Seven. While his mother was a singer and pianist, Harvey initially set out to be an engineer, not realizing that engineering schools are traditionally hot spots for meeting jazz players. In Harvey's case the swinging acquaintance literally wove a Webb with his music interest.

From 1943 through 1946 the two engineering students spent much time with their Dixielanders combo, the first band in England to perform in the trad jazz or Dixieland revival style. A stint of nearly equal duration in the Royal Air Force followed. During the late '40s, the trombonist performed with Freddy Randall, then

gigged with Vic Lewis before helping to start up a group with Dankworth, known as the "Seven" and featuring singer Cleo Laine, active from 1950 to 1953. Dankworth then went into the mid-'50s with a big band that utilized Harvey in the brass section.

Many different jazz clubs in and around London featured the trombonist on their bandstands through the '50s. As the decade closed, an affiliation with bandleader Don Rendell was progressing and Harvey was also presenting his arranging talents to leaders such as Kenny Baker, Humphrey Lyttelton, and Oscar Rabin. Recordings as a player include sides with both the Lyttelton and Dankworth outfits; Harvey's best-known big-band arrangement is NYJO, the title an acronym for the group that performed it, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Indeed he continues to be active in music education as a tutor at the City Literary Institute, head of the brass department at Haileybury College, and director of the Hertfordshire Youth Jazz Ensemble. Harvey is the head of Jazz Studies at the London College of Music, where he conducts the LCMM Big Band and Jazztet. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi