BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Ken Snakehips Johnson
| BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY |
Ken "Snakehips" Johnson (10 September 1914 – 8 March 1941) was a jazz band leader and dancer. He was a leading figure in black British music of the 1930s.[1]
Biography
Born Kenrick Reginald Hijmans Johnson,[2] and originally from British Guiana, Johnson at the age of 15 was sent by his parents to the UK, where he attended Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, Marlow, Buckinghamshire,[3] before studying medicine at Edinburgh University.
Having gained an interest in dance, he sought lessons from American choreographer Buddy Bradley.[4] It was in dance work that Johnson earned his nickname, "Snakehips", from his "fluid and flexible style".[3]
He visited New York in 1934 and was inspired to become a bandleader.[5] Johnson was invited to lead Leslie Thompson's band, before going on to start his own, called "Ken Johnson and his Rhythm Swingers" (later renamed "The West Indian Orchestra"), which played jazz and swing music and composed largely of musicians from the West Indies.[6]After the beginning of World War II, the band secured a residency at the London nightclub Café de Paris. The band were also able to record here for broadcast on BBC radio, gaining them a much larger audience; they also made an early TV appearance.[7] It was here on 8 March 1941, during The Blitz, that two bombs came through the Rialto[clarification needed] roof straight onto the dance floor soon after the start of a performance.[8] Around eighty people were injured and at least thirty-four killed,[9] including 26-year-old Johnson,[10] and his saxophonist, Dave "Baba" Williams.[11]
After cremation at Golders Green Crematorium,[12] Johnson's ashes were placed at his old school, Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, where they reside in the school chapel, together with a panel dedicated to him.[13]
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