Johnny Van Derrick

John Arthur “Johnny” Van Derrick (* 11 August 1926 in Ealing; † 15 May 1995 in Denham, Buckinghamshire) was a British Jazz violinist, who also worked as session musician in pop music.

Van Derrick was introduced to music by his father, a Dutch cornet player. He attended the conservatory in Brussels, and until the outbreak of the Second World War he received a classical musical training. In London during the war he played trumpet in dance bands, initially Louis Mexano’s Accordion Band, before joining the merchant navy. In the post-war years he played trumpet in the dance bands of Maurice Winnick and Lou Preager. Subsequently, he took violin lessons with his mentor Sascha Lasserson and played in the Halle Orchestra, before setting up as a freelance musician. He appeared with Roy Fox and Geraldo, and in the early 1960s played in the Diz Disley String Quintet, with which he made his first recording (At the Jazz Band Ball), as well as with Tubby Hayes, Gary Potter and the Jack Toogood Swingtet. In 1976, after serious illness, he was able to start working again.

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