Judah Leon Aronoff was born 1905 in Kiev, Russia, but his family moved to Antwerp, Holland in 1906. He came to England in 1914 and became a British citizen in 1929 having changed his name to Jack Leon. Trained as a violinist, he soon changed to conducting and made many dance band recordings. One of his many compositions is "Viva Villa" written under the pseudonym Stephen Fonora. In 1956 he became conductor of The BBC Scottish Variety Orchestra. He suffered a fatal heart attack on 10 March 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.