SHEILA TRACY INTERVIEW COLLECTION
This collection is vital oral jazz history and we wanted to ensure that we could make it available to the public in some way. On the playlist to the right you will find over 250 interviews in the collection, some in parts ranging from short snippets of about 30 seconds long to 2 hour complete interviews.
The playlist is ordered by surname. We apologise that there is not a simple search function or easier way to navigate the playlist other than scrolling. We are working within the confines of our web development service wix.com and have been testing for solutions that do not affect page loading speed. With more public support and funding we will be able to invest in smarter web solutions. Find out the different ways you can help us here.
This collection has been acquired via Diana Lusher (widow of the great trombonist Don Lusher) who is the executor to Tracy’s estate. The Jazz Centre UK is indebted to Diana Lusher for this privilege and as a result the Tracy interviews are made available.
Sheila Tracy (1934 - 2014)
Tracy was one of the leading voices in British broadcasting, starting with a prominent career as a TV presenter until l974 when she became the first female to read the news on BBC Radio 4. Her principal broadcasting role was as the presenter of BBC 2's ‘Big Band Special’ which she held for 21 years.
She was also a professional musician on the road with Ivy Benson Band and a writer publishing two books: ‘Bands, booze and broads’ and ‘Talking Swing’ drawn from interviews with American and British jazz musicians.
The Sheila Tracy interview collection is a compilation of original 'raw cut' interviews and conversations with jazz musicians, fans and promoters she met and worked with through her long career.
If you would like to read more on Tracy head over to the BBC Big Band website: