Bill Ashton (1936-2025) Old Rossallian
Bill Ashton was a truly remarkable man, and we should feel enormously proud of the fact that he was a Rossallian. Born in 1936, Bill was the son of Eric Ashton, who owned a bakery business in Blackpool. His mother died when he was just seven years old. When Bill joined Rossall School in 1950, he took up the saxophone and clarinet. An outstanding scholar, Bill left Rossall in 1955 for Oxford, where he studied modern languages at St Peter’s College.
Whilst at Oxford, Bill immersed himself in the world of jazz and played in various groups, including the Oxford University Big Band. After completing his National Service in the RAF, Bill taught French in various London schools whilst gigging in the evenings and at weekends. After a while, he settled in north London and took up a teaching post at Highbury Grove School. In 1965, Bill founded the London Schools Jazz Orchestra, and it quickly established an excellent reputation as a highly competent ensemble of young players. Unsurprisingly, the orchestra was in high demand. It played on many film scores and became accomplished backing artists for a good number of pop singers. Over time, the London Schools Jazz Orchestra morphed into the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO).
Over the course of its sixty year history, the NYJO has released no fewer than forty albums. The most notable former member is Amy Winehouse and she started singing vocals with the band after being recommended to Bill by his friend Sylvia Young. Between 2000 and 2002, Amy regularly performed with the group and, to some extent, she made her name with the orchestra. Her recording of ‘Moon River’ with the NYJO has certainly stood the test of time.
Bill’s dedicated service to jazz music was quite exceptional. In the absence of Arts Council funding, Bill was sometimes forced to subsidise the activities of the orchestra from his own pocket. The orchestra was so brilliant that, as John Dankworth pointed out, it was ‘one of the best bands you will ever hear’.
Bill had a formative influence on the lives of many of the UK’s finest jazz musicians. The celebrated trombonist and arranger, Callum Au (also from Blackpool) asserts that, ‘Bill taught me a good 87.5% of what I know’. Since his death, many of his former pupils and former members of the orchestra have paid tribute to his incredible kindness. It is not an exaggeration to say that the jazz scene would look very different were it not for Bill’s decades of unstinting service to the musical education of young people. Nothing was ever too much for Bill.
A world without jazz music would be an impoverished world, but the arts require a very significant level of public funding. The payback is cultural rather than commercial. It takes the dedication and vision of people like Bill to fill the gaps left by the Arts Council. Bill was an excellent songwriter and arranger. Click on the link below to enjoy some of his original works, which are, of course, performed by the NYJO.
