Francis Bay

Bandleader Francis Bay was born Frans Bayetz in Rijkevorsel, Belgium in 1914. He began playing the clarinet at age seven, and within a few years was already gigging with local orchestras. After earning first prize honors in 1930 for clarinet performance at the Conservatoire of Malines, Bay added saxophone and trombone to his arsenal, and in the latter half of the decade played in swing bands behind leaders like Paul Godwin and Boyd Bachman; after World War II, he co-founded a popular big band dubbed the Skymasters, and also wrote and arranged scores for Dutch and German film p...