Alexander Hawkins Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sad to say. http://londonjazz.blogspot.com/2010/07/rip-harry-beckett-1935-2010.html I never had the pleasure of playing with him, other than in large groups, but what I can say is that he genuinely was one of the nice guys. No comment needed on his playing - fortunately, we have the records, and they speak for themselves. A great, great musician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sad news, r.i.p. Though honestly I don't yet know that much of his music - mostly live stuff with the likes of Elton Dean, the Brotherhood of Breath, Stan Tracey etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Clugston Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Just heard about it. Sad news. Great player. Saw him play with the Dedication Orchestra a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Very sad. Saw him many times and he appears on so many great records, not just jazz ones. You could recognise his light, feathery sound instantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Just threw in the "Eclipse at Dawn" disc by the BoB (Berlin 1971), which starts with some great soloing by Beckett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Very sad to hear this. I always loved his playing with the Brotherhood and its derivative groups. His tone was a round, bursting, burnished thing--powerful and instantly recognizable. He had this sort of internal gravity that rearranged and made better every sound around him. His playing on Mike Osborne's Outback, for one, is some of my very favorite trumpet playing ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 Oh damn - so sorry to hear this. What an amazing, amazing player. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) I'm stunned - certainly wasn't expecting to hear this. What a great player, a total individual - one of the best to make this Isle his home. Mingus was spot on in rating him so highly. Only got to see him a few times (the last being at Swanage a few years ago) but was really hoping to see some more gigs from him. Sadly now, not to be. Will play the 'Flare Up' and 'Outback' LPs in tribute later on. And one of his Graham Collier sessions too. RIP Harry. Edited July 23, 2010 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 How sad. I only have good memories of seeing him play during the time I lived in London in the 1960s and 70s. As Bev said, he had a lovely, feathery sound and I'm really sorry I'll not get the chance to see him playing again; IMO his recordings don't really do him justice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 What a shame. Never saw him live but enjoyed his playing, particularly on the Colliers and Flare Up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 There's a great Harry Beckett solo on the extended version of 'Venceremos' on this Working Week 12" single: One of the few singles I bought in the 80s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 There's a great Harry Beckett solo on the extended version of 'Venceremos' on this Working Week 12" single: One of the few singles I bought in the 80s! Indeed Bev. That's a marvellous disc. Brings back some great memories of seeing Working Week live (and that first album). Hadn't thought that it was Harry Beckett that was featured...will try and dig it out over the weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Barton Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 What a beautiful player. Such a distinctive voice on his instruments. Yet another musician who should be much better known on this side of the big pond. Lots of Beckett and Breuker on the radio show this weekend for sure... R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 There's a great Harry Beckett solo on the extended version of 'Venceremos' on this Working Week 12" single: One of the few singles I bought in the 80s! Indeed Bev. That's a marvellous disc. Brings back some great memories of seeing Working Week live (and that first album). Hadn't thought that it was Harry Beckett that was featured...will try and dig it out over the weekend That's a group I've heard of but never heard.I remember when I first heard him on record - I'd bought a copy of Graham Collier's "Down Another Road." Beckett's unaccompanied solos were life-altering, in a different but parallel way to Bill Dixon's work as an instrumentalist. Thank you, Mr Beckett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) There's a great Harry Beckett solo on the extended version of 'Venceremos' on this Working Week 12" single: One of the few singles I bought in the 80s! Indeed Bev. That's a marvellous disc. Brings back some great memories of seeing Working Week live (and that first album). Hadn't thought that it was Harry Beckett that was featured...will try and dig it out over the weekend Wasn't there also a dance floor 12" (forget the title but it wasn't by Working Week) with Larry Stabbins and Keith Tippett on it? That one was mentioned in the 'Jazz Britannia' documentaries and I'm pretty sure Harry Beckett was on that one too. Another good one is 'Joy Unlimited' on Cadillac Records. That one should be reissued on CD for sure. Edited July 23, 2010 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 There's a great Harry Beckett solo on the extended version of 'Venceremos' on this Working Week 12" single: One of the few singles I bought in the 80s! Indeed Bev. That's a marvellous disc. Brings back some great memories of seeing Working Week live (and that first album). Hadn't thought that it was Harry Beckett that was featured...will try and dig it out over the weekend Wasn't there also a dance floor 12" (forget the title but it wasn't by Working Week) with Larry Stabbins and Keith Tippett on it? That one was mentioned in the 'Jazz Britannia' documentaries and I'm pretty sure Harry Beckett was on that one too. Not ringing many bells here but sounds like it'd be worth digging out from somewhere. Maybe it was the only other single that Bev bought in the 80s? Bev? Just now listening to Themes for Fega - marvellous. "Enchanted" has some stunning Harry. Makes me wish I'd been born ten years earlier so I could've been at the ICA in 1972 when it was recorded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 Not ringing many bells here but sounds like it'd be worth digging out from somewhere. Maybe it was the only other single that Bev bought in the 80s? Bev? He's listed on the other three I have - 'Storm of Light', 'Stella Marina' and 'Inner City Blues'. The only Working Week albim with Keith Tippett on that I know was the later 'Fire in the Mountain'. Not sure if he's on that. The last time I saw him he was playing in the band that recorded this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 knowledgeable wkcr host cliff price has been featuring beckett's music until 9pm--he has played ode and is currently playing brotherhood of breath. on wkcr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romualdo Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 There's a great Harry Beckett solo on the extended version of 'Venceremos' on this Working Week 12" single: One of the few singles I bought in the 80s! Thanks for that info Bev - just pulled out my 12" copy (bought it at the time) - big Wyatt/early Soft Machine fan I didn't realise that Harry had played on this will play Warm Smiles, Themes For Fega & Flare Up as tribute Everytime I access this site another great leaves us (sometimes I feel so isolated here in Australia - it's such a big trek for muscians to get out here) I do occasionally envy you people in the US/UK/Europe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerF Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Am playing Warm Smiles and looking forward to playing Themes for Fega too. I am not as familiar with these two as I was with Flare Up so this is like hearing something new. Flare Up isn't just Harry's best but one of the best jazz albums in my collection. A genuine milestone. I will miss Harry, he was a completely unique and inimitable talent and a very nice person, to boot. RIP Harry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 There's some lovely Harry Beckett from the mid-70s on this recent reissue, by another late-lamented UK-based player: Made up of 'Happy Daze' and most of 'Oh, for the Edge'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manfred Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Not ringing many bells here but sounds like it'd be worth digging out from somewhere. Maybe it was the only other single that Bev bought in the 80s? Bev? He's listed on the other three I have - 'Storm of Light', 'Stella Marina' and 'Inner City Blues'. The only Working Week albim with Keith Tippett on that I know was the later 'Fire in the Mountain'. Not sure if he's on that. The last time I saw him he was playing in the band that recorded this: oh god, ....where do you always find (and get) these great cds ????? i am speechless again and again, somehow i think i am quite well informed, but reading your posts makes me feel to live behind the seven hills or mountains....;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Am playing Warm Smiles and looking forward to playing Themes for Fega too. I am not as familiar with these two as I was with Flare Up so this is like hearing something new. Flare Up isn't just Harry's best but one of the best jazz albums in my collection. A genuine milestone. I will miss Harry, he was a completely unique and inimitable talent and a very nice person, to boot. RIP Harry. Oh, I totally forgot about that one... will have to dig it up these days!Played Osborne's "Outback" yesterday - great one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) Oh, I totally forgot about that one... will have to dig it up these days! Grab it ('Flare Up') ASAP before it goes out of print. It took nearly 40 years to reissue it last time. Superb album - a strong encapsulation of where things were at in UK 'proggessive' jazz circa 1970. One of John Surman's best sessions of the era too. Edited July 25, 2010 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 It's gone... or rather, the few used copies around are way over the top, price-wise. Too bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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