An online talk will be held on Friday, 25th November, to celebrate the life of Harry Parry, the ‘forgotten’ jazz musician, who was born in Bangor.
Harry (real name Owen Henry) was born at 222 Caernarfon Road on the 22 January 1912 and attended Glanadda & Central schools and was a natural musician.
By the age of 12 Harry had mastered almost all the instruments in the local brass band and also became proficient on drums. Later he took lessons in musical theory and the violin, while R Francis-Jones of Port Dinorwic taught him the rudiments of playing the clarinet.
At 16 Harry was playing with the Harold Dobbs Marina Band, often twice a week, at venues like Palfreymans Hall (Ambassadors Hall) now Blue Sky Cafe, “Jimmy’s” youth club at St James Church now demolished, Powis Hall at Bangor University and other venues in Caernarfon, Anglesey and North Wales.
In 1932 Harry gave up his job as a scientific instrument maker to turn professional with Eddie Shaw’s Band for the summer season at Paynes Cafe later moving to the London area between 1933-1939 where he played alto saxophone and scat-sang in bands led by George Colborn, Miff Ferrie, Percival Mackey, Oscar Grasso, Neville Bishop, Paul Lombard and Charles Shadwell.
In 1940 Harry had his big chance and was ‘discovered’ by Charles Chilton of the BBC who loved Harry’s brand of “swing jazz”. With the young George Shearing in his sextet Harry became the host, resident band and later producer of BBC’s Radio Rhythm Club, Jazz Club, Housewives Choice, Tarry with Parry and a host of other shows making over 750 broadcasts on Radio & Television. He later acted in a full length feature film as the romantic lead to Gloria Brent and acted in radio plays.
Harry made over 103 recordings for Parlophone, toured the UK regularly and entertained troops in the Middle East and also toured Europe and India. he was a successful band leader, musical arrange (trios to 18-piece orchestra), composer (over 1000 tunes) and played for the King & Queen at Windsor castle on the 18th June 1948.
The online talk will be given by Mike Tayler, Harry Parry’s nephew, who has inherited a large archive of memorabilia, oral history, and is now writing a book about his uncle’s remarkable career.
Mike said: “This talk will aim to reclaim his fame, or at least a little bit of it.
“I am writing the definitive biography of Harry Parry for my family, Jazz Historians and the people of Bangor and this Friday I will be presenting a synopsis of his life.”
The talk will be held on Zoom on Friday, 25 November 2022, at 7pm.
Click here to register: https://cwmulus.org/english/
