As many of you probably already know, given the news coverage, jazz trumpeter and radio presenter Humphrey Lyttelton has died at the age of 86. He had been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm earlier in the month, and underwent surgery to correct the problem on Monday last week, but complications arose and Lyttelton passed away on Friday night. His family have posted a statement on his website which reads: "Humph died peacefully with his family and friends around him on April 25 at 7.00pm after surgery. We would like to thank everyone for their support and express our deep gratitude to the staff of Barnet General for the care they gave Humph".
Lyttelton developed his love of jazz whilst attending Eton College, where his father, famed letter writer GW Lyttelton, was a house master. Inspired by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Nat Gonella he taught himself to play trumpet, and whilst at school formed a quartet which included the future journalist and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy. During the forties and fifties, the musician took a prominent role in the British revival of New Orleans type jazz, recording with the likes of US saxophonist Sidney Bechet. His band, The Lyttelton Band, over the years helped to develop the sound and careers of a number of British jazz musicians. He presented Radio 2 programme Best Of Jazz for forty years.
Lyttelton gained wider fame with the non-jazz audience, of course, in his capacity as a Radio 4 presenter. From 1972 until his demise, he hosted comedy panel game 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue', and became famed for his deadpan presentation and near-the-knuckle yet seemingly quite innocent double entendres. During his varied career, he was also a cartoonist for the Daily Mail, a restaurant critic for Vogue, and a columnist for Punch.
Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer, responding to the news of his death said: "Of course he was fabulously funny and sharp. But more than that he was the definition of a certain sort of wit - self-deprecating, mordant and linguistically brilliant. It's a very, very sad day but we should celebrate and be very grateful for how much he did for Radio Four because he really was one of the giants over the last 40 years, really terrific".