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The English pianist, composr and arranger, Jack Allen Byfield, joined Sander at the Grand Hotel Eastbourne in 1926 after having won an open scholarship for composition at the Royal College of Music. He studied under Sir Charles Stanford, Dr. Charles Wood, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Dr. Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.
Jack Byfield was a memebr of the BBC Light Music department from 1941; Broadcasts regularly in Melody Time. He gave concerts up & down the country as soloist. He appeared regularly at Grand Hall, The Spa, Scarborough for Summer Season; played with Albert Sandler at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne 1926-1930 & toured with him in Concerts & Variety 1930-1937. After World War II, he was permanently associated with Albert Sandler and the Palm Court Orchestra, although he also broadcast with other combinations, including his own Jack Byfield and His Players. In 1948, he started a long association with the violinist Max Jaffa and the cellist Reginald Kilbey, playing together as the Max Jaffa Trio until Byfield’s death.
As a composer, Jack Byfield has published a number of works in the romantic Palm Court tradition including: Memento d'Amore, Valse Romantique, Prelude to Romance, Poeme a la Mer, A Pinch of Salt; Cornish Pastiche. He was also arranger and masterly orchestrator. He was married with Rose Edith Lloyd-Bagnall and had one daughter. |
