Humph was always special in Londonist’s eyes because of his dear and dogged refusal to take anything too seriously. In his own words:

“As we journey through life, discarding baggage along the way, we should keep an iron grip, to the very end, on the capacity for silliness. It preserves the soul from desiccation.”

As the brilliant host of ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue’ he caused us to splutter coffee all over the place and laugh until our waterproof mascara all but evaporated. And he did for Mornington Crescent what the Wombles did for Wimbledon and Sherlock Holmes for Baker Street (only with more aplomb).

But this Londonista remembers him most fondly for his contribution to the London musical scene. Um, not that we’re actually old enough to remember all the good stuff he got started, but we sure have benefited from it: he was one of the stalwarts in the early days of the 100 Club, and started two jazz labels which gave opportunities to lots of up and coming artists.

He’ll be incredibly widely missed, and the London jazz scene will never quite be the same. Still, reckon they’ll be glad of an extra trumpet in the celestial brass section.

Picture by Lucy Lyttelton, from the official Humphrey Lyttelton website.