Derek Humble

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Derek Humble (March 1930 – 22 February 1971) was an English jazz alto saxophonist.^[1]

Humble was born in Livingston, County Durham, England, and played professionally from his teenage years.^[1] He was working with Kathy Stobart by 1950 and played with Vic Lewis in 1951 and Jack Parnell in 1952.^[1] He worked with Ronnie Scott from 1953 until 1956, and recorded with Tony Crombie, Victor Feldman, Arnold Ross, Kenny Graham, and Jimmy Deuchar in the 1950s.^[1] He played with Oscar Rabin in 1956, then returned to duty under Scott for a tour of the United States.

Humble played with Kurt Edelhagen in Cologne from 1957 to 1967,^[1] in addition to recording with Heinz Kretschmar and Dusko Goykovich. He played with Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland in 1961, and soon after became the lead altoist with the Clarke-Boland Big Band.^[1] He toured with the group until 1968, when he was seriously injured in a mugging in Cologne; Phil Woods temporarily took over lead alto in Clarke-Boland while he recovered. He played with Gordon Beck in 1969, then returned to Clarke-Boland in 1970, though he was unable to make a full recovery. He played briefly with Phil Seamen in London, shortly before his death in early 1971.^[1]

With Kurt Edelhagen

• Kurt Edelhagen Presents (Polydor, 1957)
• A Toast to the Bands (Polydor, 1959)
• Kurt Edelhagen & Wolfgang Sauer (Amiga, 1965)
• Kurt Edelhagen (Amiga, 1965)

With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band

• The Golden 8 (Blue Note, 1961)
• Jazz Is Universal (Atlantic, 1962)
• Handle with Care (Atlantic, 1963)
• Now Hear Our Meanin' (Columbia, 1966)
• Swing, Waltz, Swing (Philips, 1966)
• Sax No End (SABA, 1967)
• Out of the Folk Bag (Columbia, 1967)
• 17 Men and Their Music (Campi, 1967)
• All Smiles (MPS, 1968)
• Latin Kaleidoscope (MPS, 1968)
• Fellini 712 (MPS, 1969)
• All Blues (MPS, 1969)
• More Smiles (MPS, 1969)
• Faces (MPS, 1971)
• Off Limits (Polydor, 1971)
• The Second Greatest Jazz Big Band in the World (Black Lion, 1972)
• Open Door (Muse, 1975)
• November Girl with Carmen McRae (Black Lion, 1976)
• Clarke Boland Big Band en Concert avec Europe 1 (Tréma, 1992)

With others

• Jimmy Deuchar, Pub Crawling (Contemporary, 1957)
• Jimmy Deuchar, Pal Jimmy (Tempo, 1958)
• Victor Feldman, In London Vol. 2 Big Band (Tempo, 1957)
• Victor Feldman, Suite Sixteen (Contemporary, 1958)
• Mark Murphy, Midnight Mood (SABA, 1968)
• Bill Ramsey, Paul Kuhn, Ballads & Blues (Columbia, 1965)
• Ronnie Scott, Presenting the Ronnie Scott Sextet (Philips, 1957)

Footnotes

General references

• Barry Kernfeld, "Derek Humble". Grove Jazz online.