Barry Whitfield (born 10 April 1954) is an English pianist, organist, jazz musician, musical director and teacher.

Early life

Barry Whitfield was born in the town of

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

and brought up in

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...

North East Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire is a Unitary authority area with borough status in Lincolnshire, England. It borders the borough of North Lincolnshire and districts of West Lindsey and East Lindsey. The population of the district in the 2011 Census was ...

. He was the only son of Bransby Whitfield (businessman) and Joan Whitfield, a ballet teacher, choreographer and member of the British Ballet Organisation. He attended Clee Grammar School (Matthew Humberstone Foundation School), where he gained 10 O-levels and 3 A-levels, including one in music. Initially intending to study medicine but not attaining physics, he went on to the University College of North Wales (now

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

) to read

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

. He began studying the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

at the age of five and had achieved grade eight Pianoforte, Theory of Music and Pipe Organ by the age of 13. During his teenage years, he studied piano with Harry Isaacs (

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

), and organ with Horace Bate (Organist at St James' Church, Muswell Hill and conductor of The Madrigal Society of London), and continued to have lessons through his years at university.

Musical career

After graduating, Whitfield began working as a pianist in the Sands nightclub in Cleethorpes, accompanying a variety of cabaret artists and directing a four-piece band. During this time he had the opportunity of auditioning for Sir

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

whilst he was appearing at Skegness Pier. He accepted the position of pianist and assistant musical director and toured with Wisdom for nearly three years, in Australia, New Zealand and Rhodesia. Their tours comprised dates in the British Isles as well, including a season on the Isle of Man, where Wisdom later settled in 1980. He also made some television appearances with Wisdom, including on ''Saturday Night at the Mill'' and at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

. After leaving Wisdom's employ, Whitfield settled back in Cleethorpes and worked as a session keyboard player and arranger. He recorded for Flair Records with

Black Lace Black Lace are a British pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they f ...

, during which time he gained gold records for his work on the "magnificently dreadful" "

Agadoo "Agadoo" is a novelty song recorded by the British band Black Lace in 1984. "Agadoo" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart,Eve ...

" and "Party Party 1" (released on

Telstar Records Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004. Background Telstar was founded in 1982 by Sean O'Brien and Neil Palmer with a government loan of £120,00Telstar RecordsIt was launched as a specialist compilation mar ...

). His band spent numerous summer seasons playing in

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitfield, Barry 1954 births Living people English pianists English organists British male organists People from Grimsby 21st-century pianists 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians