- Jazz organist
- When he was around 10-11 he played an Harmonica and played it extremely well sounding like Larry Adler.
- His original name was Alan Halpern and he was Jewish.
- In the early 80s he was back but from the middle of the decade onwards was only rarely in the UK. Mostly, he was heard in Spain and on US-based cruise liners.
- His early work was performed on a Lowrey organ.
- His records "Haven For Sale" featured jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and direction from Keith Mansfield. "St. Elmo's Fire" saw Haven experiment more with the keyboards and its effects, also producing and including more originals than before. Both these LPs were released on a short-lived CD in 2010.
- He played clubs and dance hall dates on the Mecca circuit and also ventured as far afield as Paris.
- Haven was married to 1965 Miss World winner Lesley Langley in the 1960s and they had one daughter.
- Haven's friend Spike Milligan contributed the album notes for the 1971 release St. Elmo's Fire.
- Haven designed and built the Haven organ and for some years was active in the marketing and promotion of the instrument, activities that kept him from the public eye for a while.
- In the late 90s Haven returned to the recording studios after a long absence and was working in Spain, often with the singer Karen Elle, a long-lasting partnership.
- In the mid-60s Haven moved to London, persuaded Ronnie Scott to give him an opportunity at the old Gerrard Street club, and soon broke down most of the barriers of prejudice against his instrument. He played and recorded sets at Ronnie Scott's and also at Annie's Room and established a musically rewarding partnership with drummer Tony Crombie.
- He released a single from the Lester film (The Knack ...and How to Get It ), but is perhaps best known for the single Image in 1965 (originally recorded by The Hank Levine Orchestra), which was frequently used as a theme tune on the offshore radio station Radio Caroline and also featured in the 1965 horror film The Night Caller.
- He had been interested for some time in organists, including Jackie Davis and, in particular, a Count Basie set with the Oscar Peterson Trio on which Basie played organ.
- A 1966 album, Live at Annie's Room (recorded at Annie Ross's eponymous club) featured one of several collaborations with drummer Tony Crombie.
- WhenJohn Barry decided to adapt his own Oscar-winning theme from the 1968 medieval drama The Lion in Winter as a single, he wrote an extended solo for organ with Haven in mind. As released, the jazz adaptation marks a notable departure from the soundtrack score which featured a choir singing in Latin.
- He began to enjoy a higher profile in the sixties thanks to appearances on television and a popular album of songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
- He was known for his collaborations with John Barry in the James Bond films From Russia with Love (1963) and Goldfinger (1964), the comedy film A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964), and in the Richard Lester film The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965).
- Haven's first instrument was the piano and he began playing jazz while still a teenager.
- Haven also released several albums in the 1960s and 1970s, initially on Fontana Records, then CBS Records including a recording of a live set at Ronnie Scott's in London.
- In 1969 and 1971 Haven recorded two albums for CBS, a mix of originals by Haven with his arrangements of covers. All benefiting from the distinctive Haven Lowrey Heritage keyboard sounds which he had been developing throughout the 1960s.
- Haven acquired a Lowrey Holiday organ and taught himself to play it, this at a time when organ trios were briefly popular. Facing up to the complexities of the instrument was one thing; there were also audience (and fellow-musician) prejudices to overcome, since the organ was not highly regarded in jazz circles.
- He died after a long battle with cancer.
- Haven toured extensively in the sixties, learning his trade with such dedication and skill that he eventually became perhaps the most skilled of all organists with his footwork.
- In 1996 Alan released a CD on the OS Digital label called "Organ Spectrum" recorded on Wersi Beta organ and Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. The following year a compilation CD was released containing two original Pye LPs, played on his own Haven organ. In 2003 he released "Sitting In... Alan Haven Plays The Big Bands", a self-produced venture featuring Alan on organ backed by complex MIDI arrangements of fourteen Big Band classics.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content