There may be some argument as to who ranks as Scotland’s finest jazz musician, but there is no doubt that the longest-lived Scottish jazz career was that of the trumpeter Tommy McQuater. He made his first professional appearances as a teenager in the late 1920s and gave his last concert at the Ealing Jazz Festival in 2004.
McQuater was an inspiring soloist, but also had the skill as a lead trumpeter to dictate the phrasing of an entire band, which is why many of the groups with whom he played, such as the wartime Squadronaires, had such an impeccable sense of swing and jazz timing. Even in old age he could work his magic, such as on his guest appearances at the Ritz Hotel in the 1990s with the late Humphrey Carpenter’s swing band Vile Bodies, where his solos and energetic lead playing were appreciated by audiences and fellow band-members alike.
Green’s Playhouse in Glasgow was where the young McQuater began his professional life around 1929. It was the period when Glasgow was still a major port for transatlantic passenger ships, and his first bandleader, Louis Freeman, soon transferred McQuater from the theatre orchestra to the bands he supplied to liners, thereby giving him the chance to experience American jazz at first hand.
Before long word spread about the talented young trumpeter, and he was head-hunted by Jack Payne, who brought him to London in 1934. The following year, McQuater joined Lew Stone, and then moved on to Ambrose’s band, where he struck up many of the musical friendships that were to endure for his professional life, most notably with the trombonist George Chisholm. As well as recording together with Bert Ambrose, the two cemented their musical partnership by making a series of discs in 1938 as Chisholm’s “Jive Five”. By this time McQuater had already appeared on several records by the visiting American star Benny Carter, with solo spots on such tunes as Gin and Jive and Nagasaki, his brash trumpet sound taking on some of the flair and excitement of his US counterpart, Roy Eldridge.
In 1939, he and Chisholm joined a new band known as the Heralds of Swing, by all accounts a remarkable British group, much in the style of Bob Crosby’s orchestra from the United States. The outbreak of war caused it to fold, but several of its members, including both McQuater and Chisholm, went on to form the RAF Dance Orchestra, popularly known as the Squadronaires. On its best records, such as South Rampart Street Parade or Darktown Strutter’s Ball, this group proved that it could hold its own playing jazz against the best American competition, and McQuater’s hot, driving trumpet playing was an integral part of its sound.
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After the war McQuater settled back into his role as a big band lead trumpeter, working with the Skyrockets at the London Palladium, with the BBC Showband, and later with Jack Parnell’s band at ATV. He was also a member of the orchestra at Elstree Studios that recorded The Muppet Show, never missing an episode from 1976-1981.
Jazz fans kept track of his numerous recordings with Chisholm, which tended towards a robust if beautfully played form of Dixieland. He often appeared as a guest with jazz-orientated big bands in the London area, and he used his great experience to coax brass sections into following his timing and expression, always creating a better result.
He was also a patient brass teacher, who passed on tips to many younger players, including the trumpeters and broadcasters Digby Fairweather and Ian Carr.
McQuater is survived by two sons.
Tommy McQuater, jazz trumpeter, was born on September 4, 1914. He died on January 20, 2008, aged 93