The boys in the 2014 band, left to right: John Stephen, guitar; Don Wingfield, tenor sax; Peter Banting, reeds & Leader;
Colin McDermott, drums; Dan Runions, trumpet & flugelhorn; Urmas Soomet, bass; Keith Kindree, trombone.
Colin McDermott, drums; Dan Runions, trumpet & flugelhorn; Urmas Soomet, bass; Keith Kindree, trombone.
Al Rolls played trumpet in the SWINGTET 1999 - 2006
An early member of the Peter Banting SWINGTET was trumpet player Alexander Rolls. It is hard to think of Al Rolls without smiling.…. Al was a bigger than life character. A people person. Someone in whose company you always felt good He was outgoing and full of fun… kind, and generous.
Al loved music. He loved playing. He loved entertaining others. In addition to being a musician, and mentoring upcoming younger musicians, Al had lots of other interests and skills: including cars, his motor boat, and building garden watermills. Here was a guy in his late eighties, installing hardwood floors in his home. .Al was truly unique.
Al was very helpful and supportive of others …..a really nice guy. In the formative years of the Peter Banting SWINGTET, Al would bring new charts for us to try out at every rehearsal. Al was our trumpet player from 1999 until March of 2006, when our regimen became too taxing for him. But he still came out when we were short of a trumpet. He even offered (threatened?) to fill in on Tenor Sax, if needed. {He liked to remind us that years ago he used to play tenor sax}. For a period of time we rehearsed in Al’s basement. The red band stands that we use today in the SWINGTET were a gift from Al.
He was one of a kind. Al loved playing at events where there was food, and usually stuffed delicacies into his pockets or into his trumpet case to enjoy later.
For a while we had two trumpets in the SWINGTET It was fun at gigs to introduce our two trumpet players, Al Rolls and Alex Rollo. Not at all confusing!
Al loved to play percussion instruments and drums. On one occasion, the SWINGTET played a concert at Fieldcote Park, in Ancaster, Ontario. In a Latin number, where the two trumpets sounded great (like the Tijuana Brass) in rehearsals, only one trumpet was heard. Al had picked up the maracas. The Tijuana Brass effect was lost.
Al was a prominent member of the Hamilton area music scene for his entire lifetime. Al was born and grew up on Locke Street North. He would tell this to the audience when the SWINGTET played at the Locke Street Festival.
Al played in bands during the war when he was a member of the Canadian armed forces in the Maritimes. Back in Hamilton after WWII, he, with his brother Jim, formed their own band called “Swing Masters” and played at all the dance spots in the region. In his late teens, Peter Banting filled in on alto saxophone in their band. Six decades later, Al never forgot that Peter had played with the Swing Masters a few times.
Always ebullient and loquacious, Al would mingle at length with dancers during set breaks, frequently not hearing brother Jim’s piano tinkle call to return to the bandstand. On one occasion, when Al was busy chatting too long and didn’t respond to the piano’s recall, Jim became so frustrated that he hammered the piano keys with both forearms and startled everyone in the hall.
When he playing in the Peter Banting SWINGTET at retirement homes, Al would tell the residents that he was checking out their facility because he would soon need to check into a retirement home.
He also loved to tell limericks to the audience. In one limerick, about a restaurant patron finding a mouse in her soup, Al would finish with a flourish by dangling a stuffed mouse by the tail, to illustrate his story.
And who can forget Al introducing a beguine….”ba.ba.be.be begin the ba…b b.. be…., start the Samba !” Or Al imitating the voices of Woody Woodpecker and Donald Duck
When playing in concert bands at Christmas, Jeff Thomas recalls “Al relished the opportunity at the end of Leroy Anderson’s 'Sleigh Ride'
to play the final horse’s whinny on the trumpet.”
Al played trumpet and flugelhorn. He had one special trumpet and had mounted an inscribed brass plate on its case. Fred Davis was lead trumpet in Robert Farnon’s Canadian Army Show orchestra in London, England during WWII. After the war Fred became a celebrity, moderating CBC’s Front Page Challenge for 38 years. When Davis died in 1996, his widow gave Fred’s trumpet to Al Rolls. Al treasured the Fred Davis trumpet and when he died he bequeathed the “Fred Davis Memorial Trumpet” it to his young cousin, Bev Blayney.
Al was a sideman in many Hamilton bands, including the Don Sebire band, the Lorne Scots Military Band, the Burlington Concert Band, the George Arnone Big Band and the Lincoln Concert Band. For years he played in pianist Bill Middleton’s Dixieland Plus band. After Bill’s death, Al continued to run Dixieland Plus as a tribute band, always with a photo of Bill at the front of the bandstand. After Al’s death, Bev Blayney rejuvenated and continues to operate the Dixieland Plus band.
Retired Hamilton Spectator arts columnist Stew Brown, in his historical book about the Brant Inn, recounts the time when, after a gig, in downtown Hamilton, Al and a buddy climbed into Al’s motor launch at the foot of James Street, and headed though Burlington Bay and the canal to park in Lake Ontario outside the Brant Inn. There they could listen to a visiting Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, or Les Brown performance. On one such occasion, approaching the lift bridge, Al pulled out his trumpet and blew some notes. Thinking a big ship was approaching, the bridge operator dutifully raised the lift bridge!
We will miss this “bigger than life” trumpet player who had such a wonderful sense of humour. Thinking of Al Rolls will continue to bring back good memories and smiles to our faces
An early member of the Peter Banting SWINGTET was trumpet player Alexander Rolls. It is hard to think of Al Rolls without smiling.…. Al was a bigger than life character. A people person. Someone in whose company you always felt good He was outgoing and full of fun… kind, and generous.
Al loved music. He loved playing. He loved entertaining others. In addition to being a musician, and mentoring upcoming younger musicians, Al had lots of other interests and skills: including cars, his motor boat, and building garden watermills. Here was a guy in his late eighties, installing hardwood floors in his home. .Al was truly unique.
Al was very helpful and supportive of others …..a really nice guy. In the formative years of the Peter Banting SWINGTET, Al would bring new charts for us to try out at every rehearsal. Al was our trumpet player from 1999 until March of 2006, when our regimen became too taxing for him. But he still came out when we were short of a trumpet. He even offered (threatened?) to fill in on Tenor Sax, if needed. {He liked to remind us that years ago he used to play tenor sax}. For a period of time we rehearsed in Al’s basement. The red band stands that we use today in the SWINGTET were a gift from Al.
He was one of a kind. Al loved playing at events where there was food, and usually stuffed delicacies into his pockets or into his trumpet case to enjoy later.
For a while we had two trumpets in the SWINGTET It was fun at gigs to introduce our two trumpet players, Al Rolls and Alex Rollo. Not at all confusing!
Al loved to play percussion instruments and drums. On one occasion, the SWINGTET played a concert at Fieldcote Park, in Ancaster, Ontario. In a Latin number, where the two trumpets sounded great (like the Tijuana Brass) in rehearsals, only one trumpet was heard. Al had picked up the maracas. The Tijuana Brass effect was lost.
Al was a prominent member of the Hamilton area music scene for his entire lifetime. Al was born and grew up on Locke Street North. He would tell this to the audience when the SWINGTET played at the Locke Street Festival.
Al played in bands during the war when he was a member of the Canadian armed forces in the Maritimes. Back in Hamilton after WWII, he, with his brother Jim, formed their own band called “Swing Masters” and played at all the dance spots in the region. In his late teens, Peter Banting filled in on alto saxophone in their band. Six decades later, Al never forgot that Peter had played with the Swing Masters a few times.
Always ebullient and loquacious, Al would mingle at length with dancers during set breaks, frequently not hearing brother Jim’s piano tinkle call to return to the bandstand. On one occasion, when Al was busy chatting too long and didn’t respond to the piano’s recall, Jim became so frustrated that he hammered the piano keys with both forearms and startled everyone in the hall.
When he playing in the Peter Banting SWINGTET at retirement homes, Al would tell the residents that he was checking out their facility because he would soon need to check into a retirement home.
He also loved to tell limericks to the audience. In one limerick, about a restaurant patron finding a mouse in her soup, Al would finish with a flourish by dangling a stuffed mouse by the tail, to illustrate his story.
And who can forget Al introducing a beguine….”ba.ba.be.be begin the ba…b b.. be…., start the Samba !” Or Al imitating the voices of Woody Woodpecker and Donald Duck
When playing in concert bands at Christmas, Jeff Thomas recalls “Al relished the opportunity at the end of Leroy Anderson’s 'Sleigh Ride'
to play the final horse’s whinny on the trumpet.”
Al played trumpet and flugelhorn. He had one special trumpet and had mounted an inscribed brass plate on its case. Fred Davis was lead trumpet in Robert Farnon’s Canadian Army Show orchestra in London, England during WWII. After the war Fred became a celebrity, moderating CBC’s Front Page Challenge for 38 years. When Davis died in 1996, his widow gave Fred’s trumpet to Al Rolls. Al treasured the Fred Davis trumpet and when he died he bequeathed the “Fred Davis Memorial Trumpet” it to his young cousin, Bev Blayney.
Al was a sideman in many Hamilton bands, including the Don Sebire band, the Lorne Scots Military Band, the Burlington Concert Band, the George Arnone Big Band and the Lincoln Concert Band. For years he played in pianist Bill Middleton’s Dixieland Plus band. After Bill’s death, Al continued to run Dixieland Plus as a tribute band, always with a photo of Bill at the front of the bandstand. After Al’s death, Bev Blayney rejuvenated and continues to operate the Dixieland Plus band.
Retired Hamilton Spectator arts columnist Stew Brown, in his historical book about the Brant Inn, recounts the time when, after a gig, in downtown Hamilton, Al and a buddy climbed into Al’s motor launch at the foot of James Street, and headed though Burlington Bay and the canal to park in Lake Ontario outside the Brant Inn. There they could listen to a visiting Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, or Les Brown performance. On one such occasion, approaching the lift bridge, Al pulled out his trumpet and blew some notes. Thinking a big ship was approaching, the bridge operator dutifully raised the lift bridge!
We will miss this “bigger than life” trumpet player who had such a wonderful sense of humour. Thinking of Al Rolls will continue to bring back good memories and smiles to our faces
Colin McDermott
played drums in the SWINGTET 1999 - 2015
Colin McDermott came from Nelson, Lancashire,
in North West England, to Canada at the age of 20.
He had apprenticed as a plumber in the UK, but
Canadian practices were different. So in Canada he studied and earned his papers in Plumbing, Heating and Gas Fitting.
Colin, who stuttered, drolly admitted that he was fired from his first job because he couldn't handle phone calls. Then he worked for the Burlington firm S.N. Agnew Mechanical Contractors for more than 30 years and, following that, for five years at the Shell Refinery in Burlington. Always a hard worker, Colin, in addition to his job, spent three years toiling to build his own home on Twenty Road in Hamilton
Colin was generous and helpful. If a friend had a plumbing problem, Colin would show up and fix it, and refuse payment. He was adept at solving unusual problems. He would sketch out his approach on the back of an old envelope or scrap of paper, while explaining the situation. It was fascinating to observe the way he would come up with imaginative solutions.
At age 28 he joined the Dundas Concert Band playing bass drum. Then he took percussion lessons for three years from Hamilton musician, Charlie Woods. Colin continued in Dundas Concert Band until 2014.
Colin also played in the Burlington Concert Band under Cliff Hunt, and in the Hamilton Italian band. Colin loved big band music, and performed in George Arnone's Big Band, in Bill Middleton's Dixieland Plus and for sixteen years in the Peter Banting SWINGTET.
Colin was a very strong man, physically. He had to be because his drum kit felt heavy enough to be carrying the kitchen sink. Indeed, as a plumber, he well may have had a kitchen sink in his drum kit.
Colin was a serious musician. Typically when Peter telephoned him, Colin's wife, Betty, would answer the phone and say, "He is in the basement, practising."
Colin usually was the first to show up at rehearsals and gigs. Then he would announce the arrivals of fellow musicians: "John is here. Urmas has arrived. Keith is here."
Colin's playing style was unusual: he always held his upper arms in a horizontal position. And Colin always counted the beats out loud, sometimes loudly enough to be heard above the other instruments.
Colin read music extremely well, and played with precision. His only limitation in style was he didn't "stir the pot."
Colin had a personal groupie, for Betty often accompanied Colin when he was playing gigs. And they typically had one date night a week where they went to dinner at a favourite German restaurant in Dundas, or for Fish and Chips at the Thistle restaurant in Burlington.
In his job as a plumber, Colin frequently worked in areas where there was asbestos. That was before Asbestos was considered dangerous. Years ago, he was diagnosed with asbestosis, which recently caused malignant mesothelioma, a fast acting lung cancer. His approach to the prognosis demonstrated another aspect of Colin's character: Stoicism.
In his job as a plumber, Colin frequently worked in areas where there was asbestos. That was before Asbestos was considered dangerous. Years ago, he was diagnosed with asbestosis, which recently caused malignant mesothelioma, a fast acting lung cancer. His approach to the prognosis demonstrated another aspect of Colin's character: Stoicism.
Don Wingfield PLAYED TENOR 2010 - 2018
Don Wingfield played a tenor sax in the SWINGTET. He read accurately, improvised with style, and blended well in the ensemble sections. He also frequently reminded Peter of the importance of legato phrasing.
Peter and Don grew up in the same south -west Hamilton neighbourhood. Don was a year ahead in Westdale High School. And Don played alto sax. His was the lyrical, melodic style that mirrored Paul Desmond’s beautiful sound and intellectual improvisation. Don played a gold-plated SML (Strasser-Marigaux-Lemaire) French-made alto. When Don joined the Brant Inn House Orchestra playing tenor sax, he put his SML alto up for sale, Peter bought it. Peter loved the tone of the SML so much that for more than a half century he has resisted Bobby Payne’s efforts to sell him a new horn, and continues to play the SML
Don’s career included many successful years in marketing management for RBC in Montreal. Then he transferred to Vancouver. After almost five decades he returned to Hamilton and played tenor in the Royal Oak band and Carl Hamilton’s band. When Don left those bands, Peter was delighted to have him join the SWINGTET, and was proud to reacquaint Don with his now vintage SML alto. Don was a valued member of the SWINGTET for several years until ill health forced his retirement.
The most accomplished musicians can have a minor glitch in playing a particular arrangement. In one of the SWINGTET’s arrangements there is a single bar that Don always thought he had played, but invariably missed. We remember Don with affection by referring to that bar as “the Wingfield Trap.”
Don Wingfield played a tenor sax in the SWINGTET. He read accurately, improvised with style, and blended well in the ensemble sections. He also frequently reminded Peter of the importance of legato phrasing.
Peter and Don grew up in the same south -west Hamilton neighbourhood. Don was a year ahead in Westdale High School. And Don played alto sax. His was the lyrical, melodic style that mirrored Paul Desmond’s beautiful sound and intellectual improvisation. Don played a gold-plated SML (Strasser-Marigaux-Lemaire) French-made alto. When Don joined the Brant Inn House Orchestra playing tenor sax, he put his SML alto up for sale, Peter bought it. Peter loved the tone of the SML so much that for more than a half century he has resisted Bobby Payne’s efforts to sell him a new horn, and continues to play the SML
Don’s career included many successful years in marketing management for RBC in Montreal. Then he transferred to Vancouver. After almost five decades he returned to Hamilton and played tenor in the Royal Oak band and Carl Hamilton’s band. When Don left those bands, Peter was delighted to have him join the SWINGTET, and was proud to reacquaint Don with his now vintage SML alto. Don was a valued member of the SWINGTET for several years until ill health forced his retirement.
The most accomplished musicians can have a minor glitch in playing a particular arrangement. In one of the SWINGTET’s arrangements there is a single bar that Don always thought he had played, but invariably missed. We remember Don with affection by referring to that bar as “the Wingfield Trap.”
John Molnar
PLAYED TENOR SAX AND CLARINET IN THE SWINGTET 2005 - 2009
John was a professional engineer and a certified general accountant as well as an accomplished musician. After years of working in the property management business, he launched his own company, J J Molnar Realty Advisors Inc. in Hamilton, Ontario, conducting condominium reserve fund studies, insurance appraisals, various commercial property management services, as well as writing technical papers and teaching.
In addition to playing tenor sax and clarinet in the Peter Banting SWINGTET, John played in the George Arnone Big Band and the Burlington Top Hat Marching Orchestra.
John had an off-beat sense of humor and was a great colleague. He had a very kind soul and cared for friends and band mates.
