Humph died last night.

He shall be missed. His BBC Biography reads:

Humphrey Lyttelton, a self-taught trumpet player, is one of the father figures of British jazz. He is the chairman of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and presents The Best of British Jazz on Radio 2.

He was educated at Eton and went to Camberwell Art School. On leaving school he worked briefly in a steel works in south Wales. In 1993 he won a Sony Gold Award for Services to Broadcasting.

Humphrey has written several music books as well as his autobiography. He has worked as a music reviewer, written for Punch, been a cartoonist on The Daily Mail and a restaurant critic for Harpers and Queen.

He is a great-grandfather and his favourite pastimes are bird-watching and calligraphy. In April 2000 he was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Post Office British Jazz Awards.

It was only October last year that I saw ‘clue’, and I’m glad I took the opportunity.

At the time I said:

The highlight of the evening, as always with ‘Clue’ was Humphrey Lyttleton. The man is a legend, with a sense of timing that’s superb. After a hilarious stint by the panel, Humph will pause, say ‘mmm’ in a resigned way… and move on. The best bit of the show was the finale - after the kazoo and swannie-whistle round, Humphrey’s trumpet came out, and we were treated to ‘We’ll meet again’. Accompanied of course, by kazoo and swannie-whistle.

After the show, I really wanted to wait by the stage door - mainly to meet Humphrey, but also to see the Goodies (sorry, Jeremy, Barry and Colin). Unfortunately we had a little drive to get home, and needed to get home safely with tiredness creeping up - so it wasn’t to be.

I also said:

Humph isn’t likely to retire!

How prophetic…