Harry Beckett -

Harry Beckett (May 30, 1935 — July 22, 2010) was a U.K.-based jazz trumpeter originally from the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles. During the late 1960s, he juggled England’s post-bop and jazz-rock camps with appearances on albums by Graham Collier, John Surman, Ray Russell, Jack Bruce, and Keef Hartley. In 1970, he made his debut as a bandleader with Flare Up on the Philips label. More than 15 albums followed over the next four decades in lead and combo configurations, in addition to numerous backing appearances.

During the 1980s, Beckett’s name appeared on albums by assorted New Wave/sophisti-pop artists, including The Raincoats, Working Week, Jah Wobble, and David Sylvian.

Background

Harold Winston Beckett was born May 30, 1923, in St Michael Parish, Barbados. He took up trumpet at school and learned brass playing through a local Salvation Army band. Beckett developed his technique on cornet and trumpet within the Barbadian music community.

Beckett moved to London in 1954 and found work with Jamaican bandleader Leslie “Jiver” Hutchinson. He also entered the West African nightclub circuit and played with Ambrose Campbell’s West African Rhythm Brothers, a London-based highlife group. Beckett married Veronica Babb in 1956 and established his home in London.

Charles Mingus selected Beckett for a British ensemble connected with the 1961 jazz film All Night Long. Beckett played trumpet with Mingus on “Non-Sectarian Blues” in an early-July London session and appeared among musicians in the film. He joined bassist-composer Graham Collier that same year and began an association that continued across Collier ensembles through the next decade.

Beckett joined singer Herbie Goins and the Night-Timers, whose lineup also included tenor saxophonist saxophonist Mick Eve and guitarist John McLaughlin. The group worked London clubs and toured Britain with American soul acts, while Beckett continued jazz engagements. Collier featured him on the 1967 Deram album Deep Dark Blue Centre, followed by further work with Collier on Down Another Road.

By 1969, Beckett straddled the jazz and rock worlds with album appearances behind John Surman (Anglo-Sax), Ray Russell (Dragon Hill), Jack Bruce (Songs for a Tailor), and the Keef Hartley Band (Halfbreed, The Battle of North West Six). Meanwhile, he backed Neil Ardley in the New Jazz Orchestra and remained a featured soloist in Graham Collier Music.

Philips gave Beckett his first leader session in London on July 15, 1970, with producer Terry Brown. Beckett assembled Russell and Surman along with pianist John Taylor and saxophonists Mike Osborne and Alan Skidmore.

Discography: