I have always wanted to work with a trumpet player but trumpet players are hard to come by, especially good ones that want to work with you and are great fun to gig with and be around!

So, how did we meet?

I was asked by John Parker (bass player in Nizlopi) if I would play a charity gig to save a community center under threat of closure - Bath Place in Leamington Spa. It just so happened that during this conversation he knew and had the number for a great trumpet player - Liz Ralls.

So I phoned her and she was pretty blasé and told me to send her a demo...in the post...

Mmmm, not too interested, I thought, but she came back at me with great enthusiasm, not just for my tunes but also for the chance to express herself freely and be able to improvise her jazz technique to its full potential.

So Liz accompanied me at the Save Bath Place gig which was followed by a second gig at Ronnie Scotts in London, Leamington Peace Festival, Coventry Jazz Festival, to name but a few.

The forthcoming EP Chocolate and Champagne will  heavily feature Liz, with a guest appearance from locally acclaimed singer songwriter Wes Finch on bass guitar.