
I first heard him at one of the early Newcastle Festivals, probably the mid to late 1960s with the somewhat undistinguished Ed Faultless Trio. There were many more times and each time he seemed to be better than the time before which is how it should be. The last time, March 23, 2012 at Sage Gateshead he was still flying and I left feeling exhilarated.
Although my favourite memories are of him in a quartet setting I think my favourite album is with the Charlie Watts Big Band Live at Fulham Town Hall. Then there was ... this could go on forever ... but the Bebop Preservation Society was another. Everyone will have their favourite and the chances are they'll all be different!
Rest In Peace you're no longer World Class, you're Universe Class!
5 comments :
Great player - saw him once, somewhere, years ago. Sad news.
I always rated him highly as he combined talent and soul. Great soloist. He seemed to come to come to Darlington Arts Centre every year with the likes of Art Themen, the late Mr Wellins or ‘Laughing’ Stan Tracey. Always good to see him. A great loss.
Well said! But why the anonymity?
So sorry to hear Pete King has died. I once gave him a couple of gigs in the Manchester area years ago when he was not doing many jazz gigs at the time. He came up from London and amazed us all with his inventive playing. I saw him many times in later years and he was always incredible.-Mike Farmer
Well worth a read is his autobiography, Flying high, a jazz life and beyond. He is incredibly honest about his life and it’s great to read about jazz from the British point of view.
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