Sammy Rimington

British reedman Sammy Rimington was one of the top trad musicians to emerge during the 1960s. He played with Barry Martyn in 1959, spent several years with Ken Colyer (1960-1965), and came to the U.S. in the mid-'60s, playing with Big Bill Bissonnette's Easy Rider Jazz Band. Since that time, Rimington has been heard in a countless number of settings and, other than a brief fling with a fusion band he led (Armanda in 1971), he has stuck exclusively to New Orleans revival jazz. Rimington has recorded and performed with a who's who of New Orleans jazz including Chris Barber, Kid Thomas Valentine, and Captain John Handy. Influenced strongly by George Lewis on clarinet and by Handy on alto, Rimington led many record dates of his own for small labels such as Rhythm Records in 1962; Jazz Crusade in 1963; GHB in 1966; 77 in 1969; California Condor in 1973; Storyville in 1974; Munich in 1975; Dawn Club in 1977; Beerendonk in 1977; Herman, Quines, Lulu White's, and Onward in 1979; Jazz Time in 1983; Progressive in 1985; and quite a few other labels. He continued recording as a leader and collaborator through the '90s and into the new millennium, with highlights including Reed My Lips (billed to Sammy Rimington & the Return of the Mouldy Five) on Jazz Crusade in 1999 and Visits New Orleans, recorded by Rimington with a host of Crescent City stalwarts in April 2005 (several months before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city) and released by Arhoolie in 2008.