The Sussex Guitar & Sax duo - Guitar & Sax Duo

This Sussex guitar and saxophone duo is formed of 2 professional musicians who have been freelancing, touring and session playing for many years. They first met when the guitarist played as a dep in the Ross Mitchell Band and then kept working in the same local jazz outfits. The duo can easily be expanded to a four piece or more if required. 

The Saxophonist 

This very experienced musician has worked with almost everybody of note that came into the popular music scene from the seventies onward. He is still very active as a player, and recent tours with the Ross Mitchell Band have taken him to very big former communist countries in the North East of the planet earth!

Apart from his touring and credited sessions for David Bowie, he has had hits with Lulu and has worked with Petula Clark who at the time was one of the biggest "deals" on the show biz planet. As well as the usual touring American acts such as Martha Reeves and Vandellas, he has backed the very popular singers  Johnnie Ray, Guy Mitchell and Brook Benton. He has worked on Pebble Mill TV and is very familiar with all the requirements of modern media performance.

He has worked with everybody in the pop world that matters, as well as his big band and jazz work. His jazz credits are gain too numerous to mention, but he is a big fan of Paul Desmond's alto playing, and many audience comments show how others can see the influence of Mr Desmond in his jazz work. And he tells me that he has only got to change the mouth piece to sound like Dave Sanborn! He lives in Heathfield, Sussex with his charming ex-showbiz wife.

The Guitarist

Twice winner of the Brighton Competitive Music Festival on Classical Guitar, he studied Classical guitar exclusively with the international recognised Segovia prize-winner Paul Gregory, and recently has undergone the 'jazz treatment' from jazz virtuoso and MD Roy Hilton. As well as formal concerts, he specializes in weddings and corporate and private functions and promotions, such as the one for Persimmon Homes in Tunbridge Wells, and for Mercedes Benz in Tonbridge.

Recent functions for corporate clients have enabled presentations to be made in an atmosphere of the best classical music in the world. Prior to undertaking his classical studies, he spent three years at the Leeds College of Music, studying Jazz Guitar. This enables him to add a new dimension of versatility to his performances. He has worked all over the world in this capacity, and has backed many famous faces such as Vince Hill, Susan Maughan, Brian Conley and as a resident musician on the QE2 where backing visiting cabaret was all part of the job. He was also invited to perform at Vera Lynn's 90th birthday party in London. 

He has done sessions on guitar for BBC television as well as for individual singers. He was the guitarist for a rock album covers recording for the Scots Guards recorded in the Guards Chapel. He has toured Finland as a member of the Drifters backing band and worked in a similar capacity with the Platters. Recently he was involved with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican in their small jazz orchestra for a Duke Ellington inspired version of "Timon of Athens".

For two years he was the guitarist with the Frankie Vaughan Orchestra, featuring MD Colin Keyes. He has also worked in Cannes for a promotion for Citroen UK, worked in Abu Dhabi and 'depped' in West End shows such as 'Cats' and 'Jolson'. Familiar with London hotels such as the Dorchester and the Savoy, he has entertained corporate clients such as the Board of BT.

Since completing a recent 5 year residency in the House Band at the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey,where he was backing top cabaret nightly, he is now concentrating exclusively on his solo classical career and freelancing in local jazz and function bands. He has provided discrete background music for many major hotels in the South East including 

• The Randolph Oxford
• Ashdown Park Hotel
• The Grand Hotels in Brighton and Eastbourne
• The Hotel Du Vin
• Bailiff's Court Climping
• South Lodge
• The RAC Club

• Jazz Bands in East Sussex
• Jazz Guitarists & Duos in East Sussex