Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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LYTTELTON, Humphrey

(b 23 May 1921, Windsor, Surrey, England; d 25 April 2008 following surgery for an aneurism) Trumpet, leader, composer, broadcaster, author; also cartoonist; aka 'Humph'. He attended Eton, where his father was a well-known house master. He formed a dixieland band in 1948 and accompanied Sidney Bechet; expanding to an octet '50s-60s he modernized the sound, inspired by love of Duke Ellington's music. He toured the USA '59, backed Buck Clayton on his visits to Europe in the '60s, and also played with Louis Armstrong, Bud Freeman, Eddie Condon. He hosted jazz shows on BBC TV '50s-60s and his own weekly radio show Best Of Jazz featured classic repertoire on record from 1967 to 2007; he also did Jazz Record Requests. From 1972 he was the deadpan moderator of the comic quiz show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, loaded with double entendre delivered with (apparent) befuddlement.

Publications began with I Play As I Please '54 and Second Chorus '58, self-illustrated; later Take It From The Top '75, Why No Beethoven? '84. In his books Best Of Jazz 1 '78 and Best Of Jazz 2: Enter The Giants '81, his perceptions from a musician's point of view about the innovations of the greatest jazz musicians were unique, full of love of the music and of great value to the non-musical listener. 

His 'Bad Penny Blues' was a top 20 UK hit '56, untypical because it was simple enough for the pop chart. Albums included Sir Humph's Delight, Spreading Joy, Kansas City Woman (with Buddy Tate, compositions by Clayton), Echoes Of Harlem (recorded '81), others on Black Lion. He worked as a cartoonist for the Daily Mail '49-53, also writing the script for clarinettist Wally Fawkes's 'Flook' comic strip; one of his enthusiasms is calligraphy, and he formed his own Calligraph label '84, releasing It Seems Like Yesterday featuring Fawkes (b 21 June 1924, Vancouver). He has also toured and recorded with vocalist Helen Shapiro. Delving Back With Humph on the Lake label reissued '40s sessions; Lay 'em Straight! '97 on Calligraph was a new set, with guests Joe Temperley on baritone (b 20 September 1929, Scotland, emigrated to the USA '65) and Alan Barnes on alto, arrangements by Tony Coe and trombonist Pete Strange (b 19 November 1938, London), all alumni of Humph's various lineups. In 2001 he and his band contributed to 'Life In A Glasshouse' on Radiohead's album Amnesiac.

A series of three albums called Cornucopia turned out to be Humph's swan song, featuring his last band, which he thought was one of his best ever. There were guests on various tracks such as Acker Bilk and Annie Whitehead; Humph's last band included the marvelous Karen Sharp on reeds. A spark plug to the end, he was proud of talking her into buying a baritone and starting to play that.