Denis Preston

Sidney Denis Preston (né Prechner, 16 November 1916 – 21 October 1979) was a British record producer, recording studio owner, radio presenter and music critic. He was particularly influential in the British jazz and associated skiffle scenes from the 1940s to the 1960s. He has been described as "Europe's first independent record producer", and as "probably the most important figure to emerge from the British jazz business".

Biography Early life He was born Sidney Denis Prechner on 16 November 1916 in Stoke Newington, London, the son of Louis Prechner and Sarah née Hobsbaum. His cousin was the historian (and jazz critic) Eric Hobsbawm. Preston spent some of his childhood in Vienna and Brighton. His mother and father separated, leaving him and his sister to be raised solely by their mother. He soon became a passionate jazz fan, and cited his first encounter with live American jazz music - a UK appearance by Louis Armstrong in 1932 - as a major event in his life. In January 1950, he supervised recordings made by calypso musicians Lord Kitchener and Lord Beginner at the Abbey Road Studios in London; the recordings were issued on the Parlophone label. he supervised recordings issued on the independent Melodisc label, including Lord Kitchener's "London Is the Place for Me"; recordings by Roaring Lion; early recordings by Humphrey Lyttelton with Freddy Grant as the Grant-Lyttelton Paseo Jazz Band; and pianist Mike McKenzie. In 1955, he accepted a licensing deal with Pye Records and produced records for Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Alex Welsh, Frank Holder, Sandy Brown and Al Fairweather, Terry Lightfoot, and Kenny Baker. He also produced some of Lonnie Donegan's early skiffle recordings, including "Rock Island Line", recorded in July 1954 and first released on Chris Barber's album New Orleans Joys in January 1955 before becoming a top ten hit in the UK later that year. The same year he produced Humphrey Lyttelton's record "Bad Penny Blues" with the recording engineer Joe Meek.

In 1958, immediately after the Notting Hill race riots, Preston was active in the anti-racism movement. With musician and critic Fred Dallas, and musicians Johnny Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Winifred Atwell, George Melly and others, he helped set up the Stars Campaign for Interracial Friendship (SCIF). The organisation linked with activist Claudia Jones to arrange several events and clubs in the area on a non-racial and anti-fascist basis.

During the early 1960s, Preston worked with EMI on their Columbia label. He produced Acker Bilk's international hit "Stranger on the Shore" in 1961. Preston was quoted in 1963: "I was a great admirer of those involved in traditional jazz. It was very alive and active. Colyer and Barber seemed to be ploughing a lonely furrow, united against the world.... But with every successive would-be hit, another spark has died."

Preston's production branched out from traditional jazz into folk, modern jazz and guitar-based genres, working with artists such as Jack Elliot, Roger Whittaker, Wout Steenhuis, Shawn Phillips, Joe Harriott and Stan Tracey, as well as African and Indian-inspired artists Amancio D'Silva and Kofi Ghanaba. Among his jazz production successes were Stan Tracey's "Under Milk Wood" Suite, and the Indo-Jazz Fusions albums by John Mayer and Joe Harriott.

Death Preston died in Hove, Sussex, in 1979. His Sunday Times obituary described him as "probably the most important figure to emerge from the British jazz business".