Ian Hamer RIP

[sidewinder]

The very sad passing of that very fine trumpeter Ian Hamer has just been confirmed.

The following is taken from Simon Spillet's tribute over on AAJ:

"I have received the very sad news of the sudden death of trumpeter Ian Hamer after suffering a massive heart attack last night. He was nine days away from what would have been his 74th birthday.

I am sure we all extend our condolences to his family.

Ian's career exemplified the excellence of the generation of British jazzmen to which he belonged. A more then capable jazzman, a consistent session musician able to function in all manner of contexts, a fine composer and arranger, and an excellent highly skilled exponent of his instrument, his professional life stretched back over fifty years and included stints with Tubby Hayes (playing on all but one of Hayes' big band albums), appearances with Woody Herman, recordings with Mike Gibbs, and many famous "session" duties (The Beatles Got To Get You Into My Life is one such example).

Ian's own sextet, formed in the middle 1960s, was a sporadically active vehicle for his own compostions and arrangements. The calibre of his "sidemen", which variously included Tubby Hayes, Alan Skidmore and Dick Morrissey, is a tribute to the excellence of the leader's music.

The recent 2-CD set Acropolis by this band (issued on the Jasmine label) illustrates Hamer's unsung skills perfectly.

Hamer was extremely proud of this CD, and was delighted to have his "debut" album issued at the age of 72. The album met with universal praise in the jazz press, most recently garnering a glowing review by Tony Hall in Jazzwise magazine

In recent years Hamer played less often in high-profile settings. He had semi-retired to Brighton where he led the Sussex Jazz Orchestra, a band he coached through scores by the very best of British jazzmen such as Kenny Wheeler, Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey and himself, as well as the unhackneyed repertoire of Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, Peter Herbolzheimer and others.

Hamer's most recent appearances included a sextet gig at Brighton Jazz Club, and a session with Kenny Wheeler's Big Band at the Appleby Jazz Festival earlier this summer. He and Wheeler had been friends for close to fifty years and Ian played in virtually all of Kenny's big band and brass-centred line-ups, including the trumpeters 75th Birthday Tour in 2005, where he shared the stage with international stars such as Lee Konitz and Dave Holland.

Ian Hamer

b. Merseyside, September 11th 1932 d. Brighton, Sussex, September 2nd 2006"

A very fine lead trumpeter and soloist who will be sorely missed on the UK scene. The 'Acropolis' CD is a most worthy tribute.

[sidewinder]

Edited September 4, 2006 by sidewinder

[Man with the Golden Arm]

wow... sad news. just finished listening to the cut "what's her name?" that marked the end of one of my playlists.

[sidewinder]

It's come as one heck of a shock for me. I'd recently seen a listening for a regular gig by Ian's group in the Brighton area and was looking forward at some stage to checking it out. Sadly, the possibility is now no longer there. I did catch him though playing lead trumper in Kenny Wheeler's Big Band a couple of years ago and - I have to say - he was magnificent.

[JohnS]

Sad news, a stalwart of the British scene.

[king ubu]

Sad news. I gladly bought a duplicate of the above 2CD set from Lon some time ago - very enjoyable, to say the least.