His Guardian Obituary describes him as an "Influential British Jazz experimenter of the 1940s and 50s"
As a co-founder of the Club Eleven collective that lit the way toward the establishment of Scott’s London Club in 1959, he devoted much of his life to finding an authentically homegrown sound, collaborating with British composers such as the Streatham-based pianist Stan Tracey and the saxophonist Bobby Wellins – as well as the British beat poets Michael Horovitz and Pete Brown as part of the 60s poetry-and-jazz movement.
He was also assistant musical director at the fledgling National Theatre in the 60s and 70s, and, with the Jamaican bassist Coleridge Goode, was part of a highly regarded 70s trio at the Dingwalls club in Camden
During World War II, he accompanied Jimmy Cagney, then doing his ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ song-and-dance act for troops and airmen at US camp shows in England. He also performed on the Queen Mary cruise ship. died. He grew up in Streatham and lived at 78 Glennister Park Road
His Guardian Obituary describes him as an "Influential British Jazz experimenter of the 1940s and 50s"
As a co-founder of the Club Eleven collective that lit the way toward the establishment of Scott’s London Club in 1959, he devoted much of his life to finding an authentically homegrown sound, collaborating with British composers such as the Streatham-based pianist Stan Tracey and the saxophonist Bobby Wellins – as well as the British beat poets Michael Horovitz and Pete Brown as part of the 60s poetry-and-jazz movement.
He was also assistant musical director at the fledgling National Theatre in the 60s and 70s, and, with the Jamaican bassist Coleridge Goode, was part of a highly regarded 70s trio at the Dingwalls club in Camden
During World War II, he accompanied Jimmy Cagney, then doing his ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ song-and-dance act for troops and airmen at US camp shows in England. He also performed on the Queen Mary cruise ship.