Enoch Light

Pioneering Bandleader and Light Music Innovator

Classical violinist, bandleader, and recording engineer (born August 18, 1907 in Canton, Ohio, USA - died July 31, 1978 in New York, New York, USA). He led his own dance band from the 1920s to the 1940s which toured Europe in 1928-1929 (and made recordings in Paris). As A&R chief and vice-president of Grand Award Records, he founded Command Records in 1959. Light's name was prominent on many albums both as musician and producer. He released myriad albums in various genres of music under a variety of names during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Light recorded several successful big band albums with his earlier established band in the Command days Enoch Light And The Light Brigade, using the original scores, keeping the arrangements as close to the original as possible. He retired from music entirely in 1974 and died four years later. He is credited with being one of the first musicians to go to extreme lengths to create high-quality recordings that took full advantage of the technical capabilities of home audio equipment of the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly stereo effects that bounced the sounds between the right and left channels.