John C. Marshall (musician)

In the mid-eighties he founded the “John Marshall Band”, also known as “JMB”, which appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival, and was continued, with various line-ups, as the “John C. Marshall Band”. From 1993 to 1995, he was a featured soloist in the RTL Big Band, for which he also wrote arrangements, and with which he recorded the album “R&B Party”. In this period, too, he worked in the Dutch Acid-Jazz band “Advanced Warning”, together with the keyboarder Herbert Noord, the sax player Rinus Groeneveld, and the Focus drummer Pierre van der Linden.

In 1979 he reached the attention of the German television public as the regular guitarist in the WDR series “Let's Swing” - directed by Dave Kamien. In 1981, Marshall was one of the founding members of the “Olympic Rock & Blues Circus” - together with Chris Farlowe, Pete York, Colin Hodgkinson, and Brian Auger, who was replaced shortly afterwards by Jon Lord. In 1982, together with the keyboarder Chris Lazenby, he founded the band “Step'In Out”. Their debut album “Another Happy Customer” was praised highly by the press and achieved respectable sales figures. In 2010, it was re-issued, and has become very popular in Japan.

In 1972 he settled down for some years in Amsterdam, taking part in the very active jazz scene there. Here, among others, he played with Rosa King, Hans Dulfer, Slide Hampton, Chet Baker, and Dave Kamien. During this time, he appeared repeatedly, doing the guitar accompaniment for American artists touring Europe – among others, for Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Gene “Mighty Flea” Conners.

John C. Marshall (17 April 1941 – 2 September 2012) was a British guitarist, vocalist and songwriter in the jazz and blues vein. He was born in London, England.