Invitations to guest with bands began to come in, never in great numbers, usually a few each month, some months none at all. A significant event, however, was the reunion of the Crane River Jazz Band at the Grey Horse in Kingston. Ben Marshall recalls the evening: "It was packed. What an atmosphere: I hadn’t seen Julian for 20 years, but the band took off and it was like the White Hart, Cranford was only last week. So many people wanted to know where we were playing next and we had enjoyed it so much that we decided we must do it again."

As a result, the reformed CRJB — with all the original members, plus Colin Bowden on drums — were on the road again, touring not only in the UK but in Germany as well.

Inevitably, a Ken Colyer band emerged, but under different rules to those of the past. It was no longer Ken’s responsibility for obtaining gigs or ensuring a steady financial income for each member of the band. Each band member was responsible for providing a deputy if he was unable to make any session.

Although there was never an enormous demand for the band, regular residencies emerged and there were occasional foreign tours. The band played once a month at 100 Club and Ken was invited by Bill Wilkinson to lead a fortnightly session in the Centre Circle Club at Brentford Football Club, promoted by Ken Scamell. At a later date this transferred to Centaurs Rugby Club under the guidance of Tony Morgan.

Under the name of Ken Colyer’s All Stars, a band featuring such artists as Annie Hawkins, Colin Bowden, John Wurr, Len Baldwin, Ray Smith and Bill Stotesbury made tours of Germany and made recordings for a couple of LPs that appeared on the Happy Bird label.

Things continued in this manner throughout the 70s and into the 80s; some busy months, some barren. In the early 80s, Ken’s workload increased significantly when he joined Max Collie’s touring show, ‘New Orleans Mardi Gras.’ This meant that Ken was on the road touring for as many as 20 or more days in some months and, whilst he was grateful for the work Max was providing, the strain began to tell.

By 1986 signs of deterioration in Ken’s health began to show. He experienced problems with his lip, teeth and gums and sometimes found his cornet difficult to play. In addition, he was experiencing stomach pains. A regular line-up of Ian Turner (clarinet), Les Handscombe (trombone), Ray Foxley (piano), Julian Davies (bass), Brian Mitchell (banjo) and Pete Lay (drums) had emerged by this time and was to be Ken’s last band.