Harry Beckett's Joy Unlimited - Memories of Bacares/Got It Made

"The world is a great place to live in if you can throw off the blues every so often. It is with this thought in mind that we have set out to create joyful music using styles of jazz rock and Latin American rhytms and voicings to help us achieve our aim. We have enjoyed creating this music. We hope it has the desired effect and that you, the listener, are that bit happier for hearing it." So said Harry Beckett in the sleeve notes to "Memories of Bacares".

"A generous and open-hearted man and one of the most popular characters on the British jazz scene, you get the impression that if it hadn't occured to Harry Beckett to call his band "Joy Unlimited", his fans would have come up with the idea anyway. It has the atmosphere of a steel band, or a calypso group or something that happened along at a Mexican wedding; an infectious chuckle, like the sound of Harry's trumpet". Those are the words of UK jazz critic John Fordham in the liner notes to "Got It Made."

The above quotations might have given you an idea about what these two albums are about: Groovable, memorable tunes with a fat layer of jazz expertise on top to give you that uplifting vibe. For this project, Beckett recruited a solid bunch of fellows; Ray Russell, Roy Babbington, Alan Jackson and others with one foot in jazz and beyond and the other in rock and musicals. The result is accessible, but never facile, slick or cliched. "Memories" is live, "Got it made" is studio, so the live one gives the crew a chance to go a little further while the studio one is sharp, tightly arranged and executed, yet never sterile. These are not your typical Ogun releases, to the extent that term applies at all to that exquisite record label. The non-applicability of the word "typical" is a definite plus in my book.

Basic facts:

Harry Beckett's Joy Unlimited - Memories of Bacares
Ogun OG 800

Side One
The Dew At Dawn
Dreams Come And Go

Side Two
Crystals
Can't Think About Now

Harry Beckett - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Ray Russell - Guitar
Brian Miller - Electric Piano
Daryl Runswick - Bass Guitar
Robin Jones - Percussion
John Webb - Drums

Recorded at a Hackney Jazz date at the Sussex, Culford Road, London, N.1 on 25 November 1975 by Keith Beal

All music composed by Harry Beckett


Harry Beckett's Joy Unlimited - Got It Made
Ogun OG 020

Side one
Got It Made
Moon Dancer
Time Again

Side Two
Jungle wild
Spiral Image
Getting It Right

Harry Beckett - trumpet, flugelhorn
Ray Russell - guitar
Pete Lemer - Keyboards
Roy Babbington - bass, bass guitar
Martyn David - percussion
Alan Jackson - drums

Recorded 13 July 1977

All music composed by Harry Beckett

To be enjoyed standing up or leaping about in an approximately rhythmic manner.