A champion of Ornette Coleman in the 1960s on this side of the Atlantic the writer, promoter and political activist Victor Schonfield has died aged 81. The Wire report he died on 3 May. Tributes include this from journalist Conrad Landin who wrote on Twitter: ''Sorry to read that Victor Schonfield, a key figure in the first few decades of @CLPD_Labour [The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy] and a distinguished jazz critic and promoter, has died. Like most of CLPD’s leading figures he never sought the political limelight – but his contribution to the movement was huge.''

The writer Adam Horovitz, son of the late beat poet Michael Horovitz, also recalled Schonfield on social media describing him as ''One of the great champions of experimental music and jazz in the UK who, with my father & Pete Brown, put on Ornette Coleman’s first gig in Europe, and who did so much more besides'' adding ''Our families have been connected in friendship for over 80 years now, but it’s Victor I want to remember at this moment: his gleeful enthusiasms, his avuncular kindness, his occasional thunderous sternness (at times when it was needed) which gave way always to a gentle word.''

Tributes on Faceboook also included words from Jon Lansman of Momentum renown: ''I remember Victor with great affection from his days of activity in the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy in the 1980s in which he played the crucial roles of chief trade union organiser and treasurer, and was a vital element in building the successful coalition that enabled CLPD to reshape the Labour Party in the late 70s and early 1980s… I reconnected with Victor after Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership in 2015. He was as warm and supportive as ever, delighted that his work had eventually borne those fruits. He is a great loss to us all but his work will continue to bear fruit.''

The funeral is today at 10.30am in the west chapel of the West London Crematorium on the Harrow Road in London. Photo: Ni vu ni connu