
It’s not easy to feature friends who are no longer with us and it is even harder to find the right words to honour the lives of extraordinary friends.
Many of you may already have heard that Dave Rance, talented jazz trumpeter, cornet and flugel horn player, vocalist and leader of the Bedfordshire based Rance’s Rockin’ Chair Band, very sadly passed away at the end of January, 2025.
His funeral will be at 12pm, Tuesday, 11th March, at Flitwick Oaklands Crematorium,
Fordfield Road, Flitwick MK45 1AD.
The funeral will be followed by a musical farewell at
The Crown, 104 High Road, Shillington, Bedfordshire SG5 3LP.
Donations to the British Heart Foundation will be welcome in his memory:
www.memorygiving.com/davidrance
Dave was a larger than life fellow, colourful, full of energy, talent and ideas. He had a passion for jazz and a passion for entertaining. But he was also one of the kindest and most loved individuals I have ever known.
Dave was a family man first and a band leader second. He described his band as “a little different from the usual jazz bands, often amusing, always entertaining!” But Dave was modest. His Rance’s Rockin’ Chair Band’ was a vibrant, lively, well known and very popular Dixieland Jazz Band. The band was a 7-piece combo with plenty of vocals and a dash of humour thrown in for good measure. They always provided entertainment in abundance where ever they went.
Dave brought people together and made them laugh. He was a true, genuine, and unique individual with his love and jest of life, corny jokes and hot jazz. There will never be another, Dave!
Gone too soon, off to that great rockin’ chair in the sky. We will all miss you. Play on, Dave.

If you would like to see videos from the past, then take a stroll down memory lane to listen to the band playing some of their most popular songs by clicking on the links below.

“Me and Jane in a Plane” filmed at The Walnut Tree Jazz Club, Blisworth 2020. Fans loved it when Dave’s ace musicians flew high and zoomed low when playing this number. https://yoututu.be/OlajplpK1ps
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the Singing Saw performed by “The Professor”, John Percival at The Lemsford Jazz Club in Hertfordshire, 2018. https://youtu.be/h0RlHsVJlEg
“Magnolia’s Wedding Day” performed by Dave Rance’s Rockin’ Chair Band at Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle, 2014. The Band delighted Festival fans with their usual lively, inimitable style. https://youtu.be/IKaXb04BSG4