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About

Hi, thanks for checking out my website. I've the good fortune to be involved in lots of interesting musical projects with musicians from many countries living in London, doing some sessions (more than 50 released albums now) and a smorgasbord of work in venues from Ronnie Scott's to the Royal Albert Hall and around the world.​ (Please see the ''Concerts'' page on the site for more detail.) I've been here since September 2006 ; prior to that, I lived 4 years in Paris which exposed me to lots of great music and musicians I might never have encountered otherwise. (Most especially, from north and west Africa and Madagascar, and from Cuba and Brasil.)  

 

When I was a student (reading English at the University of Birmingham) I took drum lessons from legendary Birmingham player/teacher Malcolm Garrett and followed in the footsteps of Ian Palmer, Neil Bullock, Chris Dagley, Peter Cater and Steve Arguelles as drummer with the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra (MYJO). At that time the repertoire was mostly by Bob Florence, Rob McConnell and Tom Kubis. We backed many great soloists including Bud Shank, Bill Watrous, Nigel Hitchcock and Mark Nightingale and won the BBC Big Band Competition.

 

I grew up in Southport  ( near Liverpool ) and first played bebop and hard bop with some Liverpool musicians at 16.

Some career highlights so far include playing at the China Drum Summit in Beijing in 2015 (see posters) and again in 2016, this time sharing the bill with David Garibaldi, Steve Smith, Mark Giuliana and Billy Kilson ! And in 2018 Partikel (featuring Duncan Eagles and Ant Law) played at the Vancouver and Rochester (N.Y.) International Jazz Festivals. Please see the "Career Highlights" section if you want more !!

 

At the time of writing - and I would like to stress that I enjoy playing all kinds of music and have made a living since graduating from university by doing just that -  most of my work is jazz-related. That's stuff that anyone would describe as "jazz" ( both ancient and modern ) and some stuff that some people wouldn't - fusiony or "world" music projects which feature a lot of improvisation. There's also some pop and rock, musical theatre, folky singer-songwriter stuff, 20th Century orchestral music , ballroom / sequence dance gigs, sessions, etc. I don't want to be pigeon-holed as a ''jazz drummer'' because I enjoy and have a lot of experience of playing many other styles of music, all of which are related. I'm pleased to work across the entire spectrum of music and generally dislike artificial boundaries. Please

see the "Home" page for what's happening imminently.

Thanks for your time, I hope you enjoy the site ! 

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Career Highlights

17/08/19 Recorded first film soundtrack (for "The Dinner Party" by director Simon Neal)

12/07/19 Debut at The Jazz Cafe, Camden (London), with Ronnie Laws

December 2018 Gigs with Clare Teal, Jason Rebello, Simon Little, Pee Wee Ellis and Guy Barker

June 2018  First gigs in North America : Rochester (N.Y.) Jazz Festival and Vancouver Jazz Festival (with Partikel - Duncan Eagles, Max Luthert, Ant Law)

10/11/17 Debut at Cadogan Hall, London with Partikel ( Duncan Eagles, Max Luthert, Ant Law ) supporting Tomasz Stanko's New York Quartet

12/10/17 Debut at the Royal Albert Hall, London with the Ross Mitchell Orchestra ( including Mike Lovatt, Noel Langley, Tony Fisher, Stuart Brooks, Paul Higgs, Simon Bates et al ) for the International Ballroom Dance Championships

25-26/09/17 Supported Norah Jones' Trio feat. Brian Blade at Ronnie Scott's ( with Matt Chandler and Liam Dunachie )

4-6/11/16 "Masterclass" at the China Drum Summit, Beijing ( other masterclasses by David Garibaldi, Mark Giuliana, Steve Smith, Billy Kilson, Gerald Heyward and Kaz Rodriguez )

07/04/16 Debut "headline" gig at Ronnie Scott's, with Partikel's String Theory feat. Duncan Eagles, Conor Chaplin, Benet McLean, Dave Le Page, Carmen Flores, Matthew Sharp

20/02/16 Debut "Late Show" at Ronnie Scott's with the Mansur Brown Quartet feat. Benet McLean and Dan Casimir

07/11/15 First session at Abbey Road (in Studio 3)

23-25/10/15 "Masterclass" at the China Drum Summit, Beijing ( other masterclasses by Dave Weckl, Billy Cobham, Alex Acuna, Thomas Lang, Chris Coleman, Will Calhoun, Pete Lockett )

 

04/02/14 First session at Real World Studios, Box (near Bath)

 

2003 First recording on a "proper" label ( "Soleil" by Clementine, on Epic Records ) 

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