Reginald Foresythe

Reginald Foresythe (28 May 1907 - 28 December 1958) was a British jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader.

Foresythe was born and died in London. His father was a Yoruban barrister and his mother was an Englishwoman of German descent. He played piano from age eight, and worked in the second half of the 1920s as a pianist and accordionist in dance bands in Paris, Australia, Hawaii, and California. He also wrote music for films by D.W. Griffith, among others, and played in Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders. In 1930 Foresythe moved to Chicago.

Earl Hines made one of his songs, "Deep Forest," a regular part of his repertory, and Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Adrian Rollini, and Hal Kemp recorded Foresythe compositions. He worked in New York in 1934-35, arranging for Paul Whiteman and recording with Benny Goodman, John Kirby, and Gene Krupa. However, he spent much of his career on the dance band scene in Britain, later serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II and working as an accompanist to vocalists and a solo pianist in London in the 1950s.

Back in London, Foresythe assembled a studio recording group called "The New Music Of Reginald Foresythe". Between 1933-1936 he recorded for UK Columbia and UK Decca, usually spotlighting his own unusual jazzy tone poems. Among the more well known were "Serenade To A Wealthy Widow," "Garden Of Weed," "Dodging a Divorcee," and "Revolt Of The Yes-Men." His recordings featured reeds and sax, but no horns. Historians consider his works among the most advanced recordings of the era, although they didn't sell well at the time.

In January 1935, Foresythe assembled a one-off session in New York which featured Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa recording four of his compositions. Foresythe also recorded a number of piano solos and piano duets with Arthur Young (which included very advanced arrangements of "St. Louis Blues", "Tiger Rag", "Solitude" and "Mood Indigo" for H.M.V. in 1938).

Foresythe did some collaborative work with songwriters Andy Razaf and Ted Weems, including "Be Ready" (with both), "Please Don't Talk About My Man" (with Razaf), and "He's a Son of the South" (with Razaf and Paul Denniker).

He had been largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1958.