After Dinner Speakers: Humphrey & His Band Lyttelton, Penny Smith, Dickie Davies

Humphrey was born on 23 May 1921 in Eton College, where his father was a famous housemaster and where he was subsequently educated. During the War, he served as an officer in the Grenadier Guards and, on discharge, studied for two years at Camberwell Art School. His incredibly varied career has seen him work as a cartoonist for the Daily Mail and as a journalist for Punch, The Field and the British Airways magazine, Highlife. He has also written seven books, formed a record company and is President of The Society for Italic Handwriting. But it is as a jazz musician that Humphrey is best known. His love affair with the trumpet began in 1936, he formed his first band 12 years later and has since written over 120 original compositions. In 1949, he signed a recording contract with EMI, resulting in a string of now much sought-after recordings in the Parlophone Super Rhythm Style series. In 1956, Humphrey's Bad Penny Blues was the first British jazz record to enter the Top 20. More recently Humphrey and his band made a guest appearance on the Radiohead track Life In a Glass House in 2000. His collaboration with Radiohead culminated in a performance in front of 42,000 fans at the South Park concert in Oxford. Humph later said that this was one of the most moving musical experiences in his 53 year career. 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 tomfoolery an air of gravity. Humphrey was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Awards at both the Post Office British Jazz Awards in April 2000 and at the first BBC Jazz Awards in 2001. In 1993, he was also the recipient of the radio industry's highest honour: The Sony Gold Award.