Jul 15 - Jazz Pianist John Porter Passes Away
John Porter, the virtuoso jazz pianist who regularly played at the Eliott Hotel jazz sessions, sadly passed away last week. He was the first jazz pianist to come to play at the jazz sessions organized by George Posso in 1999.
Mr Posso said: “John was a great inspiration for all local musicians, the loss has touched all musicians and friends who knew him.”
John Porter was born in 1941 and started playing the piano as soon as he could. He was classically trained and finished his studies at the Royal School of Music. He became interested in jazz in his early teens and said that Art Tatum, Bud Powell and Bill Evens were his first influences. Apart from jazz, he worked in many areas including film scoring, jingle writing and West End musical productions. He spent a few years in the US during the 70's before settling in Spain, where he played regular jazz gigs in Barcelona and Madrid.
(Pic courtesy George Posso)
