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UK trumpet-playing jazz legend Kenny Ball has died aged 82.
Ball was one of the best known and most loved names in British jazz music, and with his band The Jazzmen was at the forefront of the early 1960s UK trad jazz revival and achieved chart success on both sides of the Atlantic. It is currently not known how Ball died.
Born in Illford, Essex, Ball was the youngest of seven children and began his musical life playing the bugle as a sea cadet.
His career began in earnest as a semi-professional sideman for bands led by Charlie Galbraith, Sid Phillips, and Terry Lightfoot.
He formed his own group in 1958 and they got their break two years later. While auditioning for a TV show they were spotted by skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan, who offered them a recording contract on the spot.
Their biggest, and most enduring, hit was 'Midnight In Moscow', which reached number two in both the UK and US charts and sold more than a million copies world wide.
Their accessible sound meant they were pop stars as well as jazzmen. Though some jazz purists weren't fans of their music, more top ten hits followed in the form of 'March Of The Siamese Children' and 'The Green Leaves Of Summer'.
Towards the end of the 60s they became the resident band on the Morecomb And Wise show, bringing them still more fame.
In 1981 Ball and his band were in invited to perform at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and in 1984 they became the first western jazz group to perform at the Kremlin, performing 'Midnight In Moscow'.
Watch Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen play 'Midnight In Moscow below
After playing eight shows with Louis Armstrong, Ball formed a friendship with the American jazz legend and was awarded an honourary citizenship by the city of New Orleans.
One of the longest lasting and most loved jazz musicians not just in the UK but around the world, when asked about the secret of his staying power Ball simply answered 'enthusiasm'.
Ball continued to tour until shortly before his death.
