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Alan Littlejohn

British musician (1928–1996)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 1, 2025
Entity authorityQ3525293 ↗
Source-derived summary

Alan Littlejohn (4 January 1928 – 12 November 1996) was a British jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and bandleader born in London, England, most notable for his work with artists such as Ben Webster, Earl Hines, Bill Coleman, Sonny Dee, Laurie Chescoe, Alvin Roy, and Billy Butterfield.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Alan Littlejohn” as british musician (1928–1996). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alan, Littlejohn and British.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1928, 1996—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1928-01-04. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Alan, Littlejohn and British providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Alan Littlejohn”, the useful work is to connect “british musician (1928–1996)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 1, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3525293. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1928 and 1996.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Alan Littlejohn”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Alan Littlejohn primary sources, Alan Littlejohn archive and Alan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alan Littlejohn”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Alan Littlejohn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.