Gordon Stretton
English musician credited with introducing jazz to Latin America.
Gordon Stretton, born William Masters on 5 June 1886, was an English performer and bandleader of mixed Irish and Jamaican heritage. He is remembered as one of the first musicians from Liverpool to achieve international fame and is widely recognized for bringing jazz to Latin America.
His mother, Sarah Ann Jane Masters, was Irish and had moved to Liverpool as a child. His father, William Alexander Gordon Masters, was born in Jamaica around 1854 and worked as a seaman on the SS Andean. The couple married in Liverpool in June 1884 and had three sons, all of whom served in the First World War; one died, and the other two were injured, one by poison gas. Stretton’s father died around 1895, and his mother passed away in 1903.
Stretton grew up in Liverpool’s slums, first in the Byrom Street courts and later in other central areas. A well-known photograph from 1896 by Charles F. Inston shows him as one of the shoeless boys sitting around the Steble Fountain. In 1914 he joined the army, serving officially for two years, though part of that time was spent recovering from an injury. While convalescing at Mill Hill Military Hospital in London, he met Mary Agnes (Molly) Smith, a nurse from Bray, Ireland. They married in Nice in March 1921 and moved to Paris. In 1923 his career took them to South America, and he never returned to Europe. Molly made a brief trip to the UK in 1953 and died on 27 November 1957. The couple had no children. Stretton died on 3 May 1983 at the British Hospital in Buenos Aires, having lived since the late 1970s at the Casa Del Teatro, a nursing home for former performers. He was buried in the city’s Cementerio Británico.
Stretton’s interest in music and performance began early, though he had no formal training. At age five, in 1891, he sneaked into a music hall show at Liverpool’s Haymarket Theatre, sang from the audience, and was invited onstage. This led his mother to let him join The Five Boys (later The Eight Lancashire Lads) clog dancing and singing troupe when he was about nine. He toured British music halls with them for two years. From 1903 he used the stage name Gordon Stretton, combining his father’s middle name with the name of the American-born singer and dancer Eugene Stratton.
He launched a solo career with music hall engagements in North Wales and nearby areas, receiving some singing tuition from a minister in Llandu
- born
- 5 June 1886
Lore & Background
Stretton was born in the slum area of Byrom Street courts in Liverpool. His mother was from Ireland, his father from Jamaica. He began performing at age five after sneaking into a music hall and singing from the audience. By nine, he joined The Five Boys clog dancing troupe. He later adopted the stage name Gordon Stretton from his father's middle name and the singer Eugene Stratton. He moved to London in 1908, styling himself the 'Natural Artistic Coon' and performing with African American musicians such as the Versatile Three. In 1923 he formed the Orchestre Syncopated Six in Paris and recorded for Pathé. He settled in Buenos Aires from the late 1920s, founded Gordon Stretton's Symphonic Jazz Band, and hosted the radio show Hullo Jazz. He performed with Carmen Miranda and accompanied the Prince of Wales during his tour of Argentina. Stretton died in Argentina in 1983 at the British Hospital, Buenos Aires.
Reader's Guide
Gordon Stretton's significance lies in his role as a pioneering figure in the international spread of jazz, particularly in Latin America. Born in Liverpool to Irish and Jamaican parents, he rose from poverty to become a versatile performer and bandleader. His career spanned music hall, minstrel shows, and early jazz, and he worked with notable African American musicians in London and Paris. By relocating to Argentina in the 1920s, he became a key figure in establishing jazz in South America, performing on radio, leading bands, and co-founding the Argentinian performing rights society SADAIC. His legacy is also marked by his wartime fundraising and his longevity as a performer, with his last show at age 92. Despite most of his recordings being lost, his contributions to jazz history are recognized for bridging European and Latin American musical cultures.
Did You Know?
- Stretton was one of the shoeless boys photographed around the Steble Fountain in Liverpool in 1896.
- He met his wife, a nurse, while convalescing at Mill Hill Military Hospital in London during World War I.
- He performed the opening song at a Copacabana club in Brazil.
- He co-authored a requiem broadcast across Argentina on the first anniversary of Eva Perón's death.
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