Humphrey Lyttelton

Humph was born on May 23, 1921 in Eton College school, where his father was a housemaster and so he later attended England's most famous public school. During the War, he was an officer in the Grenadier Guards. After discharge, studied for two years at Camberwell Art School. But his love affair with the trumpet, which began in 1936, saw him form his first band in 1948. A 1949 recording contract with EMI was followed by many recordings, including 1956's Bad Penny Blues, the first British jazz record to enter the Top 20. Today Humphrey is busier than ever. His band, one of the most versatile in the world, still tours regularly. He presents The Best of Jazz on BBC Radio 2 and has chaired the hugely popular panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue on Radio 4 for 30 years. His authoritative and exquisitely bored tones lend the half-hour of innuendo and improvised madness an air of gravity. In 1993, Humph was also the recipient of the radio industry's highest honour: The Sony Gold Award. He has also received Lifetime Achievement Awards at both the Post Office British Jazz Awards in April 2000 and at the first BBC Jazz Awards in 2001. To paraphrase Humph at the close of his radio show "all good things must come to an end," and so must this biography.