R.I.P. Harry Beckett

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Ian's thoughts on the sad news of the passing of trumpet and flugel horn player Harry Beckett (1935-2010).

R.I.P Harry Beckett (1935-2010)

Trumpet and flugel horn player Harold Winston ?Harry? Beckett died of a stroke on July 22nd 2010.
Born in Barbados on May 30th 1935 Harry Beckett moved to the UK in 1954 and subsequently became an integral figure on the British jazz scene.

A highly adaptable player Harry kept pace with all the developments in the music over the course of the last fifty plus years. He played with the 60’s and 70’s avant gardists, with the Loose Tubes and Jazz Warriors generation in the 80’s and generally kept his finger on the pulse right to the end happily crossing genres and playing with younger musicians.

I must admit I don’t have a great deal of his material on record. I have albums by the Brotherhood Of Breath and the Dedication Orchestra which feature him in medium and large ensemble situations and just the one where he appears as leader, the 1992 Spotlite Records release ?All For One? which has Beckett leading a group of four flugel horn players (himself, Claude Deppa, Chris Batchelor and Jon Corbett). Similarly my sightings of him live were also rare, amounting to a couple of fleeting festival appearances.

Nonetheless he has been a highly influential presence on the UK jazz scene and British Jazz will be the poorer for his passing. 

Sebastian Scotney’s excellent London Jazzblog site has an illustrated tribute to Harry and includes many comments from his many musical colleagues over the years. Go to http://www.londonjazz.blogspot.com