10 Facts About Don Rendell

Donald Percy Rendell was an English jazz musician and arranger.

The school was evacuated during the Second World War to Marlborough College, where Rendell heard Jazz for the first time.

Don Rendell's father, Percy, was the musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company; his mother Vera was a musician.

Don Rendell had begun to play the piano aged five, but switched to saxophone in his teens.

Don Rendell began his career on alto saxophone but changed to tenor saxophone in 1943.

Don Rendell performed with Billie Holiday in Manchester, England, before playing in the bands of Tony Crombie and Ted Heath.

Don Rendell was a member of Woody Herman's Anglo American Herd in 1959.

Don Rendell performed in festivals in England and France and worked with Johnny Dankworth, Michael Garrick, and Brian Priestley.

Don Rendell taught at the Royal Academy of Music for three years in the early 1970s.

Don Rendell was survived by his wife, Joan, whom he married in 1948, his daughter, Sally, his sister, Doris, and three grandchildren.