3. Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and The West Indian Orchestra
Johnson, well-known as one of England’s first black bandleaders, was actually just one player in a vibrant community of West Indian musicians bringing swing and “hot” jazz to London in the 1930s. Born in 1914 in what is now known as Guyana, Kendrick Reginald Huymans was sent to school in the U.K. at 15. Enamored with American dance, he began studying with American choreographer Buddy Bradley. A talented enough dancer to earn the nickname “Snakehips,” he began dancing professionally in England and later U.S.
His greatest success, came in 1937 when he started his own (nearly) all-West Indian swing band: Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and His Rhythm Swingers, later known as The West Indian Orchestra. Jamaican trumpeter Leslie Thompson did most of the arrangements for the band, which included trumpeter Dave Wilkins from Barbados; clarinetist Carl Barriteau, saxophonist Dave ‘Baba’ Williams, and trumpeter Wally Bowen from Trinidad; and trumpeter Leslie “Jiver” Hutchinson, saxophonist Bertie King, and pianist Yorke De Souza from Jamaica. Their hold of the London jazz scene was cut short, however, by none other than a German bomb — in 1941, the West End’s posh Cafe de Paris was hit during a performance by the group, instantly killing Johnson and Williams. By then, though, the group had already affirmed the importance of West Indian musicians to the London jazz scene. Listen to some of the band’s biggest hits below: