A petition to rename Colston Hall, Bristol in honour of pianist-composer Keith Tippett has gathered over 1000 signatures since it was launched at the end of last week.
Tippett, who died on Sunday, June 14, was a born in Bristol in 1947 and represented the city across the world in a career that spanned more than fifty years.
A church chorister, organist and classical piano student before he led his first jazz group in Bristol, Tippett moved to London in 1967 and became the leader of the young British jazz movement with the trailblazing Keith Tippett Sextet, which he formed with fellow students from Barry Summer School.
The group recorded two albums for the Polydor label, at the time home to Cream and the Bee Gees, before Tippett launched his fifty-piece orchestra, Centipede and expanded his activities to include solo concerts, duos with his wife, the former Julie Driscoll and fellow pianists Stan Tracey and Howard Riley, and groups including Mujician and the large scale Ark and Tapestry.
He leaves a huge body of recorded work and memories of concerts, especially in Europe, where he created magical events, whether they featured just himself at the piano or at the head of a huge ensemble.
The petition to rename Colstron Hall, one of Bristol's major venues, in Tippett's honour is available to sign here.