John McKenzie :(

[molan]

Just heard that John McKenzie has left us

I remember him back from the mid 70’s with Man but his Recording and Live CV reads like a who’s who of artists to have played with. 

[Mickeyboro]

5 minutes ago, molan said:

Just heard that John McKenzie has left us

I remember him back from the mid 70’s with Man but his Recording and Live CV reads like a who’s who of artists to have played with. 

Lovely fella and great musician - probably not the best fit for Man, but anyone who played with Dylan, Dexys and Lenny Henry is nothing if not versatile.

Rest easy, John.

[Mickeyboro]

A bit of Deke Leonard writing on John's audition for Man. He usurped their original choice, a Finn called Matti.

 

The following day about lunchtime there was a knock on the door. I answered it.

‘Hi, I’m John McKenzie. I’ve come to audition for the band.’

The first thing I noticed about him was that he was black – I don’t miss much. I took him to the kitchen where Dominique made a fuss of him. He was well-spoken, well-mannered with an easy laugh. Another civilised man in the midst of barbarians. Over a cup of tea and a joint or two, he gave us a bit of biog.

His last band had been the Global Village Trucking Company, his father was Mike McKenzie, a jazz pianist of some repute, and his auntie was Annie Ross. He was a thoroughbred and a real charmer. It was such a pity we had to string him along.

‘Now, why couldn’t he have been a shithead?’ I remember thinking.

About two we adjourned to the lounge, making going-through-the-motions gestures to Matti who followed us in. We dispensed with the warm-up and went straight into ‘Born With A Future.’ I think we told him what key it was in. Jones kicked it in. McKenzie listened to a couple of bars then began to play. It was some of the most beautiful bass-playing I had ever heard. It rippled, it bounced, it soared. The ascending run he played over the bridge into the end solo was breathtaking and I found myself standing on tip-toe. When he hit an accent you could see the note travel up his arm, over his shoulder, down his spine and into his leg. Terry’s elbows went up and we were all grinning furiously. Terry always raises his elbows when he’s flying.

We played for about an hour then we reluctantly stopped.

‘You’ve got the gig,’ we chorused.

There was much welcome-to-the-fold back-slapping. Suddenly, we remembered Matti. We looked around for him but he’d gone.

‘Oh Gawd,’ I said, ‘I’d better go and tell him.’

He was sitting at the kitchen table, playing the guitar. Dominique stood quietly by the Aga, holding her breath.

‘Matti…’ I said.

‘I know. I know,’ he said, smiling, ‘He’s terrific. You must take him. It’s OK. I understand.’

I began to apologise but he waved it aside. 

We briefed McKenzie on our plans for the future and he was driven back to London to pack his bags and return forthwith.

[molan]

From MarkBass:

”British bassist John McKenzie has worked with a vast range of very popular artists including Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Eurythmics, The Pretenders, Tom Scott, Morrissey Mullen, Seal, David Bowie, Eternal, Shakira, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Annette Peacock, James Ingram, Phoenix Horns, Wham, The Christians, Tim Finn, Lionel Richie, Steve Hillage, Man, Kajagoogoo, Eric Burdon, Andy Taylor, Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, Serge Foubert and Raw Stylus. More recently he has toured with Bond, Wild, Ive Mendes, and concert pianist Maksim“

[lowdown]

Yes, very sad, he will be missed.

He was a terrific musician with a great feel. 

R.I.P

This was posted on Facebook.

John during his stint with the Morrissey Mullen Band.