Trumpet and Flugelhorn | 1935-2010

Harry Beckett was born Harold Winston Beckett in Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados, on 30 May 1935. He learned music in a Salvation Army band and has lived in the United Kingdom since 1954. He became a central figure of the British jazz and improvised music scene from the 1960s, playing with Ian Carr’s Nucleus, the Brotherhood of Breath, the Dedication Orchestra, the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, John Surman’s Octet, Ronnie Scott’s quintet, Stan Tracey and Elton Dean’s Ninesense, among many others. He appeared in the film All Night Long (1962) and played with Charles Mingus there. He also recorded with rock and popular figures including Jack Bruce, Keef Hartley and Charlie Watts. In 1972 he won the Melody Maker poll as Britain’s top trumpeter, and he was a member of the Orchestre National de Jazz between 1997 and 2000. His own recordings include Flare Up (1970), Warm Smiles (1971) and Memories of Bacares (Ogun, 1975). His final album, The Modern Sound of Harry Beckett (On-U Sound, 2008), was produced by Adrian Sherwood. He died in London on 22 July 2010, aged 75.