Ingham, Keith

Ingham, Keith, English pianist; b. London, England, Feb. 5, 1942. A fine, swinging pianist with an encyclopedic knowledge of songwriters, overlooked songs, and jazz piano history. He has an excellent reputation as an accomplished vocal accompanist and arranger. His many musical associations and collaborations include singers Susannah McCorkle, Peggy Lee, Barbara Lea, and the late Maxine Sullivan, guitarist Marty Grosz, clarinetists Bobby Gordon and Bob Reitmeier, and tenor saxophonist Harry Allen. His keyboard approach and sound are often reminiscent of Gene Schroeder or Jess Stacy, but he acknowledges Al Haig and Ellis Larkins as primary influences on his harmonically rich piano style.

Growing up in war-ravaged Britain, he began piano studies at age eight and showed an interest in jazz by his teens. As a prerequisite to an Oxford Univ. scholarship, he worked for the British Government in Hong Kong. It was there where he first played jazz piano, sitting in with a Filipino quartet. He left the Far East in 1962 and majored in classical Chinese language at Oxford, graduating in 1966. He returned to London and started playing in British bands with Humphrey Lyttelton, Sandy Brown, Wally Falkes, Bruce Turner, and others. By 1968, he was accompanying visiting Americans, most notably Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Benny Carter, and Ben Webster. In the 1970s, he recorded with Bud Freeman, Bob Wilber, and as leader with vocalist Susannah McCorkle with whom he shared a mutual love of 1920s and 1930s songs. In 1978, McCorkle and visiting musicians Billy Butterfield and Ruby Braff encouraged Ingham to move to the United States. Ingham settled in N.Y. where he freelanced and played occasional dates with Benny Goodman, the World’s Greatest Jazz Band, and with McCorkle as her musical director and pianist. He plays the festival scene and selective U.S. club dates, and is a favorite at the annual Allegheny Jazz Society sessions in Western Pa. and environs. He has recorded as sideman and leader, including dates featuring singer Maxine Sullivan, guitarist Marty Grosz, clarinetist Bob Reitmeier, and others. He still finds time, however, to play his special brand of thoughtful, complex jazz piano in various N.Y. venues.

Discography

The Keith Ingham-Bob Reitmeier Quartet Plays the Music of Victor Young (1989); Keith Ingham: Out of the Past (1990); Marty Grosz & Keith Ingham and Their Paswonky Serenaders: Unsaturated Fats (1990); The Harry Allen-Keith Ingham Quintet: Are You Having Any Fun? (1991); Music from the Mauve Decades (1993); Bobby Gordon/Keith Ingham/Hal Smith Trio (1993); The Keith Ingham New York 9, Vol. 1 (1994); Just Imagine: The Music of DeSylva, Brown & Henderson (1994); My Little Brown Book: A Celebration of Billy Strayhorn’s Music, Vol. 1 (1994); The Intimacy of the Blues: A Celebration of Billy Strayhorn’s Music, Vol. 2 (1994); Keith Ingham-Harry Allen: Back Room Romp (1995).

—John T. Bitter