Kathy Stobart

Born in South Shields, saxophonist Kathy Stobart (born 1925) became a professional musician at just 16 years old. In 1943 she joined Art Thompson’s band, touring North America with them and subsequently marrying Thompson. Vic Lewis asked her to join him in 1948 and she stayed with his orchestra until 1952. The band featured among others pianist Dill Jones, trumpeters Hank Shaw and Bert Courtley, who became her second husband. She took time out from the jazz scene for a few years to start a family, but in 1957 a call from Humphrey Lyttelton changed the course of her career. Originally asked to stand in for saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore who was ill, she continued to dep with the band throughout the Sixties, until finally joining full time as a replacement for Tony Coe. In the meantime she had also played in bands with Tony Kinsey and Dizzy Reece and with husband Bert Courtley, and become involved in jazz education at the City Lit.

Stobart was with Lyttelton for most of the 1970s, touring and recording prolifically. In 1976, she recorded a baritone duets album with Joe Temperley, and also recorded with modernist Harry Beckett. She continued to work with Lyttelton into the 1990s, while also performing with and leading a number of bands with other female musicians. By the 2000s, Stobart was largely retired from music, but her contributions to British jazz were recognised when she was awarded the inaugural Parliamentary Jazz Award for Services to Jazz in 2005.

Key Recordings:

With Humphrey Lyttelton
Saxploitation with Joe Temperley (Spotlite 1976)
Arbeia (Spotlite 1978)