Jack Hylton
Jack Hylton (born as John Greenhalgh Hilton; * July 2, 1892 in Bolton , Lancashire , † January 29, 1965 in London ( Marylebone )) was an English big band leader and concert and musical producer.
Hilton's father worked in a cotton mill and was an active trade unionist, amateur singer and later a landlord, his mother was a teacher. Jack Hilton made his first public appearances as a singer and piano accompanist in his father's pub at an early age and toured the coastal resorts with a mime troupe. Around 1909 he took over the band leadership and the management of similar troops. There he met his future wife in 1913, whom he married in the early 1920s. From 1914 he began to play in London as a silent film pianist and pianist in dance bands. During the First World War he led a troop care band . In 1918 he began a comedy act with Tommy Handley, a year later he worked as a songwriter and music publisher in Blackpool and London. After listening to Paul Whiteman's records , they organized a similar band for which Hylton arranged the tracks according to the records. In 1921 the “Queens Hall Roof Orchestra” made its first recordings. In 1923 he had his own orchestra. Soon they were among the most popular London dance bands, playing in the Kit-Kat Club and the Alhambra and in 1926 even - expanded to include strings - in the Royal Albert Hall , where Hylton no longer accompanied the piano, but conducted like Paul Whiteman. In 1927 the band toured the continent for the first time (appearances in the USA were not made in 1929 due to difficulties with the unions, but in 1932 they were broadcast there on the radio). In 1929 alone they sold over 3 million records.
In 1931 they played the “Mavra” composed for them by Igor Stravinsky in the Paris Opera House. In 1931 he became a knight of the French Legion of Honor . In 1933, Hylton organized Duke Ellington's tour of the UK and mainland Europe. In 1934 Coleman Hawkins played in the Hylton Band while he was in England. In 1935 - after they appeared in their first own film "She shall have music" - Hylton temporarily disbanded the band and led a band with American musicians in the USA for 10 months. After his return in 1936 he continued his success, toured Europe for the last time in 1938, but broke up the band at the beginning of the war in 1940 (in 1950 they came together again for a “Royal Command Performance”). He then began working as a concert manager, initially for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1941 his career began as a successful musical producer. In 1948 he discovered Shirley Bassey . From 1955 he also worked a lot for television. In 1963 he married a second time. He died of a heart attack in 1965.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hylton, Jack |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British big band leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 2, 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bolton |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 29, 1965 |
| Place of death | London |