James Edward Wilbur (1898–1968) was a British bandleader and prolifically recorded musician identified with and influential in the era of

British dance band British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music, prior to the Second World War. Thousands of miles awa ...

music. Wilbur was born Wilbur Blinco in 1898 in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. He became recording director for Dominion Records in 1928, but left Dominion shortly before its demise, and became recording manager for the Crystalate Manufacturing Company. With his own name and under many pseudonyms, his recordings appeared on a variety of labels, including Imperial, Eclipse, Rex and Crown. He broadcast for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the 1930s, often featuring guest artists such as

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

. In 1941, he appeared as himself in the film '' Hi Gang!''. His dance band recordings often featured a young

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known ...

on vocals, and he later accompanied Lynn on her solo releases. Jay Wilbur and His Band performed extensively for Allied military service members during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He is known for recording established tunes while rendering them in

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a time ...

style. Wilbur died in

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbur, Jay 1898 births 1968 deaths British bandleaders Dance band bandleaders British jazz musicians Musicians from Bournemouth 20th-century British conductors (music)