I've had a very rewarding summer of work both in the UK and abroad, which included a couple of days away with Acker Bilk and his band in Cyprus and the Vitoria Jazz Festival with Ray Gelato, with whom I'm travelling to Sardinia and Italy in November. Closer to home was the Appleby Jazz Festival, for which I organised, played in and wrote a couple of charts for the Festival Big Band. Speaking of Appleby, ReSteamed Records has recently released an album of the Stan Tracey Orchestra recorded at the 2004 and 2006 Festivals.

Forthcoing gig dates this Autumn include Tuesday 13th November at the Southampton Jazz Club and Thursday 29th November at the Watermill Jazz Club, both with the Frank Griffith Nonet. I've also been busy writing a few more charts for Frank's band, including a feature for Robbie Robson on John Dankworth's "It Happens Quietly", and a nonet orchestration of Mike Crotty's 1988 arrangement for the Mel Lewis Orchestra of "It Could Happen To You".

Watch out for news from Elio Pace over the coming few months as he is currently working on material for a new album. Following on from the success of last year's Christmas single "What A Day", he has asked me to write a big band arrangement of another of his own songs for this project.

Earlier this month I went to see Thomas Dolby at the The Academy in Manchester. I've always had great admiration for his music and his production skills, and it was fantastic to see him perform live, with a horn section too!

Many thanks for reading, and if you'd like to listen you'll find six new tracks on my recently updated Audio page.