Musician Profile

Bookings

Date	Group	Instrument	Info
27th July 2025	George Tidiman's New Orleans All Stars	Banjo	N/A

Band Info

Mel (Malc) Cox – Banjo, Guitar and wannabe Drummer – I went to Williers music shop in Ipswich to buy a Doris Day record, of all things, and came away with one by Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band!!! And that was the start – I wanted to be a drummer but Tucker Smith wanted a banjo player – so I bought one for a quid, tuned it to the first four strings of a guitar – on which I could play three chords… When Tucker was called up for National Service, I joined the Tom Collins Band, in early 1959 at the ‘Albert’ and stayed with his band until he died. That band was the best one I ever played with. It took me all over Europe, including Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, France, and Germany – to Canada, Iraq, North Africa – the Isle of Man and Norfolk!! As a band we supported all the greats – Count Basie, Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Monty Sunshine, Bruce Turner etc. Since Tom died the band has continued as the East Coast Wanderer’s and I’m a bit of a tart and play with lots of different bands…. Which meant, I once played the same Jazz Club with four different bands on the trot?