b. 21 May 1935, Potters Bar, Middlesex, England. Lightfoot made his first appearance on the UK jazz scene as a clarinettist in the early 50s. After leading his own band throughout the 50s, he maintained a band into the next decade, having established a reputation strong enough to shrug off the decline in popularity of his brand of music. During the trad boom of the early 60s he appeared in the film It’s Trad Dad. Apart from a brief spell in Kenny Ball’s band he continued to lead into the 70s only stepping sideways into hotel management towards the end of the decade. He continued to play however, and by the mid-80s was back in full-time music. Amongst the most polished of British traditional clarinettists, Lightfoot achieved and maintained high standards of performance not only from himself but also from the many fine musicians he employed over the years.