Humph, Bruce & Sandy Swing At The BBC

During 1948-55, trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton led what was arguably the top British traditional jazz band. His group, which teamed him with clarinetist Wally Fawkes, performed songs based in the 1920s and New Orleans jazz, including standards and plenty of obscurities. The addition of altoist Bruce Turner in 1953 worried some purists because he had a more modern sound based on Tab Smith and (to a lesser extent) Johnny Hodges, but Lyttleton continued emphasizing early jazz until Fawkes departed in mid-1955. Feeling restricted by both the style and the expectations of some of his fans, Lyttleton had his group modernize a bit, and by 1956 they were sounding more like a late 1930s Duke Ellington small unit rather than emulating the 1920s. Many of Lyttleton’s followers were not pleased, even calling Turner a “dirty bopper” although in reality he was a swing player. It was similar in ways to the audience’s reactions to Igor Stravinsky debuting The Rite Of Spring in 1913, or Bob Dylan appearing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 with an electric rather than acoustic group. Lyttleton, who later wrote a book titled I Play As I Please, eventually won over many of his fans and went his own way while never losing his ability or love for playing hot jazz. Humph, Bruce, and Sandy’s Swing At The BBC starts by featuring Lyttleton’s 1956 band with Turner and trombonist John Picar