Teaching

I’m quite a veteran of the Jazz Education day, thanks to my 15 year association with John Packer Woodwind and Brass, where I was sent all over the UK to demonstrate and coach woodwind instruments in a variety of settings to all ages and abilities. This led to a group teaching technique known as the Barnet Emergency Manoeuvre when I found myself at an education centre in a secret location (er..) faced with three hundred children of various ages and abilities going from beginner to about grade 6. The result was an aurally taught chorale approach to jazz which is endlessly mutable for any situation. At Ronnie Scott’s, I devised the syllabus for their Big Band In A Day outreach programme where teenage students spend a day at the club being introduced to the art of playing together in a big band context. I also teach privately, and have recently been involved with classically trained students at the Royal College Of Music showing them how to play a jazz solo and survive!