Ivor Mairants

Ivor Mairants (b.18 July 1908 c.20 February 1998) was a professional jazz and classical guitarist, teacher and composer.

With his wife Lily in 1958 he created Ivor Mairants Musicentre, a specialist guitar store in London that was the first of its kind in the country and is still among the foremost of its kind in the UK.

Biography

Ivor Mairants was born in Rypin, Poland. He came with his family to the United Kingdom in 1913. He took up the banjo at the age of 15 and became a professional musician at the age of 20.

From the 1930s he was a featured banjoist and then guitarist of many of Britain's leading dance bands including those of Ambrose, Roy Fox, Lew Stone, Geraldo and Ted Heath. In the 1960s and 1970s his outstanding guitar playing was often heard on television, radio, film soundtracks, and many recordings with the popular Mantovani orchestra, and with Manuel and his Music of the Mountains. His recording of the 'Adagio' from Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" with Manuel sold over one million copies. His guitar quintet broadcast regularly in the late 1950s on the BBC's 'Guitar Club' series.

Of particular importance to guitarists is the fact that Ivor Mairants devoted so much of his time to writing music and instructional methods for the guitar. His flamenco guitar method has for many years has been a bestseller all over the world. His many other solo and technique books for all styles of guitar playing, from publishers both in the UK and USA, have enjoyed great success.

In the 1950s Ivor Mairants established his Central School of Dance Music in London. All instruments were taught at this innovative establishment, but special emphasis was given to the guitar. Several of his ex-pupils are today Britain's top guitarists.

In 1958, together with his wife Lily, he opened The Ivor Mairants Musicentre. This was Britain's first specialist guitar store situated in the heart of London's West End. For many years some of the world's best guitars and guitar accessories were introduced into Britain by Ivor Mairants at his store.

The Ivor Mairants Musicentre became a Mecca for professional guitarists, and for amateur guitarists at all levels of ability. Although the store was sold in recent times to one of the UK's major instrument distributors, it still bears his name and continues to stock one of Britain's finest ranges of guitars. Because of his unique knowledge and music skills, Ivor Mairants was over the years often employed as a specialist consultant for leading instrument makers and importers.

From the 1930s Ivor Mairants was a prolific columnist in several leading music journals including Melody Maker, BMG and Classical Guitar. In 1980 his highly acclaimed biography 'My Fifty Fretting Years' was published by Ashley Mark Publishing in the UK, and in 1995 his marvelous opus, 'The Great Jazz Guitarists', probably the most complete collection of note-for-note transcriptions of historic jazz guitar solo's was published by Music Maker Publications in Cambridge, UK.

Ivor Mairants made a unique and outstanding contribution to the world of guitar in Britain. Over the past 50 years, there can be few British guitarists who have not benefited from this contribution. he was a member of the worshipful Society of Musicians, a prestigious and ancient British guild, and a Freeman of the City of London.

In 1997 the Worshipful Society of Musicians inaugurated a new annual competition; the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award, which will remain an important part of the enormous legacy this irreplaceable figure has left for future generations of guitarists.

References

* [http://www.ivormairants.co.uk/store/about.php Ivor Mairants' Musicentre info page]
* [http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=99338 Mel Bay page for one of Mairants' books]
*Ivor Mairants. "Ivor Mairants'Guide To Latin American Rhythms For Guitar"Published 1962 by Latin-American Music Publishing Co. Ltd. 8 Denmark St. London WC2