Van Phillips

American musician, composer and photographer. Born in 1905, died in 1992.

He came to London in 1925 to play saxophone in the Savoy Havana Band. A few years later he was a recording studio manager at Columbia Records. He also made 78s under his own name. In the 1950s he composed the music for the BBC Light Programme radio series "Journey Into Space". These recordings were played on the forerunner to the analog synthesizer, the clavioline. In later life, his hobby of travel photography took over his life completely, and his 1966 "Traveller’s Book of Photography" sold over 150,000 copies. He remained active in this field until 1987, when he finally retired from his travels at the age of 82.