Jeff Clyne R.I.P.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I was saddened to hear of the sudden death of the leading British bassist Jeff Clyne.

It was with a heavy heart that I read of the sudden death of the bassist Jeff Clyne (1937-2009), an important figure on the UK jazz scene for over fifty years.
Clyne played with everybody from The Jazz Couriers to Stan Tracey to Nucleus and appeared on literally dozens of recordings. I remember him best for his work with the fusion band Turning Point which he led in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Turning Point were one of those seminal bands that led me to a jazz path after an adolescence spent listening to rock music. I still have Turning Point’s two albums “Creatures Of The Night” and “Silent Promise” on the original vinyl but recently treated myself to the Vocalion double CD re-release. I’ve never stopped listening to this music and to me it still stands up after all this time and still sounds remarkably contemporary. Sadly they never got round to releasing a third album, which was a shame as I remember hearing tunes both in concert and on the radio that were never recorded/released.

Comments on Sebastian Scotney’s London Jazz blog (where I read the news) all say what a genuinely nice guy Jeff was. I met him twice, once when he and Phil Lee were playing a local trio date with Norma Winstone, the other when I saw Turning Point in Birmingham on a Contemporary Music Network tour in Autumn 1980. That was a particularly memorable gig with guitarist Allan Holdsworth and jazz composer Neil Ardley augmenting the familiar Turning Point quintet line up which included a very young Gary Husband on drums. Jeff and all the band took time to speak to me afterwards and sign my programme-all CMN tours had them in those days. They were all very pleasant to a then very young fan, particularly Jeff himself.

I’m sure others will have their own memories of Jeff and I know Turning Point was only a small part of a long and very distinguished career. I have other, more jazz orientated albums that feature Jeff’s playing but those two Turning Point albums will always be very special to me. R.I.P. Jeff, and thanks for the music and the memories.

I’d love to hear of other people’s memories of Jeff and would welcome comments. As an aside I’d also love to learn what became of Turning Point’s pianist and composer Brian Miller.

Ian Mann.