TRIBUTES have been paid to an inspirational music man who helped bring the samba beat to the Riverside.
Kel Dennis, who has died after a battle with cancer, aged 59, was music co-ordinator for the Eston Education Action Zone.
He helped develop music in the Eston area for the past 29 years, initially through the Eston Campus Band, which became the Eston Concert Band, and the Band of 78 - named after its formation year.
He worked tirelessly to teach, educate and promote music and musicianship to young musicians throughout Eston schools.
And for the past few years, he led a rhythmic annual jaunt around the Riverside Stadium by hundreds of samba-playing youngsters.
Kel was responsible for setting up the Eston EAZ, which introduced primary school children to samba, song-writing workshops, choirs and percussion master classes with world renowned performers.
He never missed a band rehearsal in 29 years, and loved every minute of it.
Of the Riverside Samba sessions, he once said: “It’s fantastic to unite all the schools in the area.�
He leaves a wife Kay and sons Noel and Adam.
Long-time friend David Joswey, a teacher at Ravensworth Junior School, Normanby, said: “He has been an inspiration to all those he has worked with and is greatly loved and admired by all.
“His tireless dedication and commitment to the youth of the area, his high standards, and his firm belief in the ethos of inclusion, not exclusion, have produced scores of musicians who today continue to perform both locally and internationally with his unwavering inspiration and enthusiasm as their drive.�
Mr Dennis’s funeral is at Christ Church, Great Ayton, on Wednesday, May 16, at 3pm, followed by a service at Teesside Crematorium.
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Kel was deeply loved by everyone who met him. He was a true hero who did so much for young musicians...he truly will be missed
Kel will be sadly missed by hundreds of people whose lives he touched.
He was an inspirational, enthusiastic, dedicated and caring teacher, a very special person.
Our thoughts are with his family.