That’s the Blues Old Man
Posted in Jazz on May 2nd, 2009 No Comments »
This is a taste of one of Humphrey Lyttelton’s classic records, ‘Humph at the Conway’, recorded live at London’s Conway Hall on 2 September 1954. The band was in transition at the time. It was still fundamentally a traditional band but force of circumstances changed its line up. In place of the trombone, Bruce Turner came in on alto sax – to the fury of die-hard traditionalists who at a concert in Birmingham unfurled a banner “Go Home, Dirty Bopper”. In addition to Turner and Humph on trumpet, is Wally Fawkes on clarinet.
Good as Humph and Wally are, Bruce Turner is something else. Throughout his alto playing is magnificent – searching, allusive, firm and direct, by turns. The rhythm section chugs along as best it can.
Humph introduces this tune, written by Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington’s great alto player.
