Shake Keane

Shake Keane
Born	Ellsworth McGranahan Keane (1927-05-30)30 May 1927 Kingstown,St Vincent,West Indies
Died	11 November 1997(1997-11-11)(aged 70) Bergen,Norway
Alma mater	University of London
Occupation(s)	Musician and poet
Notable work	One a Week with Water(1979)
Awards	Casa de las AméricasPrize

The Angel Hornby Shake Keane, with an illustration of the poet's face on the book cover, published by House of Nehesi Publishers

Ellsworth McGranahan"Shake"Keane(30 May 1927 – 11 November 1997) was aVincentianjazzmusician and poet. He is best known today for his role as a jazz trumpeter, principally his work as a member of the ground-breakingJoe HarriottQuintet (1959–65).

Early life in St Vincent

Born on theCaribbeanisland of St Vincent into "a humble family that loved books and music",Keane attended Kingstown Methodist School andSt Vincent Grammar School.He was taught to play the trumpet by his father, Charles (who died when Keane was 13), and gave his first public recital at the age of six.When he was 14 years old, Keane led a musical band made up of his brothers. In the 1940s, with his mother Dorcas working to raise six children, the teenager joined one of the island's leading bands, Ted Lawrence and His Silvertone Orchestra.

During Keane's early adulthood in St Vincent, his principal interest was literature, rather than the music for which he would become better known. He had been dubbed "Shakespeare" by his school friends, on account of his love of prose and poetry. This nickname was subsequently shortened to "Shake", which name he came to use throughout his adult life. He published two books of poetry –L'Oubili(1950) andIxion(1952) – while still in St Vincent.

Early career in Europe

Keane emigrated toGreat Britainin 1952.He worked onBBC Radio'sCaribbean Voicesprogramme,reading poetry and interviewing fellow writers and musicians. He began reading literature atLondon Universityby day, while also playing the trumpet in London nightclubs,working in a number of styles includingcabaret,highlife,soca,mento,calypsoandjazz.From 1959, he committed more fully to jazz, spending six years as a member of pioneering alto saxophonistJoe Harriott's band. Harriott's group was the first in Europe, and one of the first worldwide, to playfree jazz,and Keane contributed mightily to the band's artistic success, thanks to his fleet and powerful improvisatory skills on trumpet andflugelhorn.Both Harriott and Keane played with theMike McKenzie Harlem All Stars.

During this period, Keane and Harriott also played extensively with English jazz pianistMichael Garrick,often in a "poetry and jazz" setting. He also made a small handful of records under his own name, but these were usually light jazz, a world away from his work with Harriott and Garrick. In 1966, Keane left Britain to settle in Germany. He became featured soloist with theKurt EdelhagenRadio Orchestra, and also joined the pre-eminent European jazz ensemble of the 1960s,The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band.

Family life in London

During 1953, Keane met Christiane Richard, fromLyon,France, at one of his performances in London. The couple settled down together inTufnell Parkand had two sons in the early 1960s: Alan and Noel Julian.They moved toNotting Hillto live with his friend and bandmate,Coleridge Goode.At some point, Keane formed a relationship with Scots-born Elizabeth Uma Ramanan, with whom he had a son, Roland Ramanan, in 1966, by which time Keane had left for Germany to join Edelhagen's orchestra.

Later career

Keane's musical career was set aside in the early 1970s, as he returned to St Vincent in 1972 to take up a government position as director of culture,remaining in the post until 1975. Afterwards, he turned to teaching as his main profession, while continuing to write poetry. His collectionOne a Week with Water(1979) won the prestigious CubanCasa de las Américasprize for poetry.

In 1981, Keane moved to New York City, settling theBedford-Stuyvesantsection ofBrooklyn.He did not return full-time to music until 1989, when he rejoined Michael Garrick and his old band matesColeridge Goodeand Bobby Orr for a tour in honour of Joe Harriott. In 1991, Keane appeared in a BBCArenadocumentary with the Jamaican poetLinton Kwesi Johnson,filmed byAnthony Wall.

Death and legacy

In the 1990s, Keane remained based in Brooklyn. He had reestablished contact with Margaret Bynoe, an academic who also hailed from St Vincent. They married and set up home together in 1991.Thanks to an old friend and colleague from the BBC in the 1950s,Erik Bye,Keane established a regular pattern of work inNorwayfrom 1991 to his death.He contributed music to Norwegian television and stage productions for the next few years, also touring the country playing jazz. It was while preparing for one such tour that he became ill, subsequently dying from stomach cancer on 11 November 1997 inBergen,at the age of 70.

In 2003, he was honoured by his country with the unveiling of a life-size bust at the Peace Memorial Hall inKingstown.

The authoritative collection to date of Shake Keane's poetry isThe Angel Horn – Shake Keane (1927–1997) Collected Poems,published by House of Nehesi Publishers in 2005 and launched that same year at the St. Martin Book Fair to an audience of more than 200 guests.Keane himself had selected the poems for inclusion but died before publication. The book was seen through to publication by his widow, Margaret Bynoe.According to Vincentian author Dr. Adrian Fraser, "The Angel Hornis vintage Shake Keane,… spanning a period of 40 years… the best of Keane. "

The biographyRiff: The Shake Keane Story,byPhilip Nanton,was published in January 2021 byPapillote Press.

Discography

As bandleader

• In My Condition(Columbia, 1961)
• Bossa Negra(Columbia, 1962)
• That's The Noise(Decca, 1965)
• With The Keating Sound(Decca, 1966)
• The Big Fat Horn Of Shake Keane(Decca, 1966)
• Dig It(Phase 4, 1968)
• Rising Stars At Evening Time(Economy, 1971)
• Real Keen Reggae into Jazz(LKJ, 1991)

As sideman

• Joe Harriott:Southern Horizons(Jazzland, 1960)
• Joe Harriott:Free Form(Jazzland, 1960)
• Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair:Africa Calling(Candid, 1960)
• Joe Harriott:Abstract(Columbia, 1962)
• Joe Harriott:Movement(Columbia, 1963)
• Joe Harriott:High Spirits(Columbia, 1964)
• David Mack:New Directions(Columbia, 1964)
• Michael Garrick:Poetry & Jazz In Concert(Argo, 1964)
• Michael Garrick:October Woman(Argo, 1965)
• Jonny Teupen:Love and Harp A La Latin(Vogue, 1965; reissued by Sonorama Records, Berlin, Germany. Listed as Leonard Blech, a pseudonym for a well known West Indian trumpet player who worked at the BBC and in the combos of Joe Harriot, Jonny Keating and Bob Jarnon)
• Ambrose Campbell:High-Life Today(Columbia, 1966)
• Joe Harriott and John Mayer:Indo Jazz Fusions(Columbia, 1967)
• Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band:Swing, Waltz, Swing(Philips, 1966),Sax No End(SABA, 1967),Out of the Folk Bag(Columbia, 1967),17 Men and Their Music(Campi, 1967),Latin Kaleidoscope(MPS, 1968)

Poetry collections

• L'Oubili(1950)
• Ixion(1952)
• One a Week with Water(1979)
• The Volcano Suite(1979)
• Palm and Octopus(1994)
• The Angel Horn – Shake Keane (1927–1997) Collected Poems(2005)

External links

• Shake Keane at the British Bebop website - features extensive discography.

Further reading

• Robertson, Alan (2003).Joe Harriott: Fire in his Soul.Northway Publications.ISBN0-9537040-3-3.
• Coleridge, Goode &Roger Cotterrell(2002).Bass Lines: A Life in Jazz.Northway Publications.ISBN0-9537040-2-5.