Steve Race

British composer, arranger, pianist, and radio/TV broadcaster. Born April , 1 1921 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. Died June 22, 2009 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (aged 88). Studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music from the age of 16, having learnt the instrument from the age of 5, his first broadcast was in 1941. After working for bandleaders as pianist/arranger during the 1940s, he led one of the earliest British bebop sessions for the Paxton label in 1949. Race was light music adviser for the ITV franchise holder Associated-Rediffusion (1955-60), also conducting studio musicians for some of the station's shows, and composed jingles for commercials. From the early 1950s to the 1980s, he presented music and other programmes for the BBC Records, including "The Jazz Scene" (1962-67) for radio and the "Jazz 625" TV series (1964-66), In June 1967, he hosted the BBC's "Our World" satellite broadcast, best remembered for featuring The Beatles recording "All You Need Is Love" live, and during the same year began hosting the "My Music" radio panel show which ran from 1967 to 1994 (also on television, 1977-83). Awarded the OBE in 1992.