Rupert Nurse

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Rupert Nurse was a bassist, pianist, arranger and bandleader who helped shape jazz and Caribbean music in Britain, above all in the 1950s. Born in Port of Spain on 26 December 1910, he spent part of his childhood in Venezuela, taught himself piano and learned arranging from a mail order Glenn Miller book. With Guyanese saxophonist Wally Stewart he formed the Moderneers, described as the first American-style big band in Trinidad, and during the Second World War he began writing jazz arrangements of calypsos. He reached London in 1945, playing double bass at the Antilles club and later touring with Leslie Hutchinson's band. In 1953 he became musical director of the Melodisc label, leading its house band and arranging and producing Lord Kitchener's records. Recordings by Rupert Nurse's Calypso Band include Song of Joy and No Carnival in Britain with The Mighty Terror. He later retired to Arima, where he died in 2001 at the age of 90.