Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was the driving force of the 1960s British blues boom and an
inspiration for many of the young R&B/rock artists who subsequently found
international fame. Born in Paris to an Austrian Jewish father and a
half-Turkish half-Greek mother, Korner grew up in France, Switzerland and North
Africa, arriving in London in 1940 at the start of the Second World War. A
record by pianist Jimmy Yancey converted him to blues and, taking up piano and
guitar after the war, he joined Chris Barber's Jazz Band. In Barber's band he
met Cyril Davies and they started performing together as...
