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Harry Beckett: Joy Unlimited

By Chris May
July 29, 2020
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The Barbados-born trumpeter

Harry Beckett

flugelhorn
1935 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Harry Beckett moved to Britain when he was 19. His first known recording session came in 1961 alongside

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus. This happened during the London sessions for the

" data-original-title="" title="">Tubby Hayes album All Night Long (Fontana, 1962), which was chronicled in the 2020 All About Jazz article Jazz & Film: An Alternative Top 20 Soundtrack Albums.

To debut with Mingus was an auspicious beginning and Beckett never looked back. Seemingly loved by everyone who met him, his music and personality reflected each other and both are perfectly caught by the title of this upbeat album. Joy Unlimited, originally released by Cadillac in 1975, is jazz rock infused with a dash of Calypsofied funk. It is played by a killer sextet of musicians' musicians with guitarist

Ray Russell

guitar, electric
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Ray Russell and keyboard player

Brian Miller

keyboards

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Miller sharing most of the solo spotlight with Beckett. Exuberant and energizing, it has catchy tunes and frill-free arrangements. It is the absolute, total, care-free flipside of the moody contemporaneous work of

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis and makes great summertime listening.

Beckett passed in 2010. During an eventful recording career he worked with many of Britain's most significant jazz and jazz-rock bandleaders and township-jazz expats, plus along the way important Americans such as Mingus,

Oliver Nelson

saxophone
1932 - 1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Oliver Nelson and

David Murray

saxophone, tenor
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">David Murray. Like the alto saxophonist

Joe Harriott

saxophone
1928 - 1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Harriott (with whom he recorded), he was an early pioneer of a culturally distinct strand of Caribbean and African-enriched jazz, which in 2020 is a key ingredient in the new London jazz of players such as

Shabaka Hutchings

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Shabaka Hutchings,

Nubya Garcia

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Nubya Garcia,

Binker Golding

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Binker Golding and

Camilla George

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Camilla George.

This 2020 edition of Joy Unlimited is available on vinyl, digital and, for the first time ever, CD.

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Track Listing

No Time for Hello; Glowing; Changes Are Still Happening; Bracelets of Sound; Rings within Rings; Not Just Tomorrow.

Personnel

Harry Beckett

flugelhorn

Ray Russell

guitar, electric

Brian Miller

keyboards

Darryl Runswick

bass, electric

Nigel Morris

drums

Martin David

congas

Additional Instrumentation

Harry Beckett: trumpet, flugelhorn; Brian Miller: piano, electric piano, synthesiser.

Album information

Title: Joy Unlimited | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Cadillac Records

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