Shake Keane

b. Ellsworth McGranahan Keane, 30 May 1927, St. Vincent, West Indies, d. 10 November 1997, Oslo, Norway. Although taught music by his father as a child, Keane did not turn to the trumpet as a career until the mid-50s. Originally a teacher in St. Vincent, he came to England in 1952 to study English literature. He was already an accomplished poet - his nickname is short for ‘Shakespeare’ - with two collections of verse published, but could find no work in London except as a musician. For several years he played as a sideman in nightclubs and on recording sessions, performing calypso and Latin music as well as blues and jazz. One regular employer was calypso king Lord Kitchener, while a selection of tracks Keane originally made for the west African market with Guyanese pianist Mick McKenzie was reissued on the compilation Caribbean Connections: Black Music In Britain In The Early 50s, Vol. 2. From 1959-65, Keane was a member of the Joe Harriott Quintet, which pioneered freeform and abstract jazz in the UK. Keane played on all their classic recordings, notably Free Form, Abstract and Movement. When the group disbanded in the mid-60s Keane moved to Germany, becoming a featured soloist with Kurt Edelhagen’s Radio Band. In the 70s he returned to St. Vincent where he was Minister of Culture for several years, and published prize-winning books of poetry. In the early 80s, he settled in New York, where he occasionally played reggae and soca but spent most of his time writing poetry. In 1989, however, he toured the UK with the Joe Harriott Memorial Quintet, which also included original members Coleridge Goode and Bobby Orr. A documentary film was made in 1992 covering his early years in London at the Sunset Club. Equipped with flawless technique and brilliant invention, Keane - equally adept at calypso and bebop, freeform and classical - was recognized as one of the outstanding trumpeters of his generation. He died of cancer in November 1997. His son Roland Ramanan is a trumpeter and writer on jazz.