[4] Six months later, he got his first job at the Glasgow-based Tommy Sampson's Orchestra, having previously played in local dance bands.

In October 1974, he toured and recorded with the Duke Ellington Orchestra as a replacement for Harry Carney.

[4] During the 1980s, Temperley played in the Broadway show Sophisticated Ladies; and his film soundtrack credits included Cotton Club, Biloxi Blues, Brighton Beach Memoirs, When Harry Met Sally..., and Tune in Tomorrow, the latter composed by Wynton Marsalis.

He was a guest mentor of the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra programme in Scotland.

[6] Temperley died of kidney failure and cancer in New York City on 11 May 2016, aged 86.