Sunday, April 27, 2008

Humphrey Lyttelton 1921 - 2008 "the best Trumpet player in England" said Louis Armstrong

Humph died peacefully with his family and friends around him on April 25th at 7.00pm following surgery.

When I was at RMA Sandhurst (1956/58) I used to go up to London to hear him play. My closest contact with him was.

One of my best friends at RMAS was Tony Green, the editor of the Daily Telegraphs son. We had been invited to a Debs Ball at the Savoy. My MG J4 was out of action so my father had lent me his Morris 12 drop head couple, I think 1936 vintage and quite rare. Being a farmer, there was straw poking out of the boot. As we pulled up the doorman offered to park the "farm car". As we got out a voice said "Tony what are you doing here?" - " Dancing" replied my friend. "What are you doing here Hump?" "Playing" replied the very amiable jazz man. You will be missed by many Hump.

Leon Neals Photo: humphrey (2)


http://www.humphreylyttelton.com/contact