Charles Burchell was born in London on 30 October 1925 and died on 3 June 1986. A devoted admirer of George Formby at the outset, he first picked up the ukelele, moved on to guitar, and only switched to clarinet after an Artie Shaw recording prompted him to explore jazz. He soon changed to alto saxophone, formed his own quintet in 1943, experimented briefly with tenor, and was then conscripted into the Royal Air Force. In 1944 he transferred to the army, performed in Greece with the British Divisional Band, and after his discharge in 1947 joined the Toni Antone big band in London. Full-time music ended for him in 1949 when he took factory work, declaring to writer Victor Schonfield in 1978, “All my playing is playing for love.” A committed follower of Lennie Tristano and an ardent devotee of Warne Marsh, Burchell kept performing on a part-time basis, led his own quintet for more than two decades, appeared as a guest with Clark Terry, Emily Remler and Nathan Davis, recorded for Peter Ind’s Wave label, and joined Ind’s ensemble behind Tristano at the pianist’s sole British concert, given in Harrogate in 1968. His supple, lyrical tenor style, marked by unpredictable turns of phrase that echoed his idol Marsh, earned him lasting regard; he succumbed to a heart attack in 1986. His friend and colleague, journalist Mike Hennessey, later called him “one of the great unsung heroes of British jazz.”
