I began writing arrangements and transcriptions when I was in my early teens and as a virtually self-taught writer and trombonist, transcribing has been one of the principal methods by which I've learned about music. In the early years I worked with a lot of small bands and I've always attempted to write music that is comfortable for the musicians to play and generally in the most sonorous ranges of their instruments. The result of this is that even with a small number of horns I can create rich textures, both harmonically and tonally.

I've always been drawn to big band music and having 'paid my dues' in rehearsal bands who were kind enough to play my charts, I feel somewhat 'like a kid at Christmas' now that I'm privileged to be writing for and performing with musicians of the highest calibre. At the moment I'm principally involved in writing compositions and arrangements for the Frank Griffith Nonet and transcriptions and arrangements for Back to Basie, but have also in addition to providing charts for numerous commercial sessions, been commissioned to write for Elio Pace, Ed Harvey, Pete Cater, Ray Gelato and NYJO, amongst others. I'm comfortable writing in just about any style since 1940, and in some ways relish the challenge of making a nonet sound like a big band with just the six horns. Although having said that, if I had to choose I'd say that I find writing for big band the most rewarding, simply because of the options that are available with an ensemble of that size.

There are examples of my writing for smaller ensembles on the Audio page, and I hope this gives an insight into my approach.

One further aspect that I must mention is that I'm meticulous about clear copying, the logic being that if it appears that the composer can't be bothered to prepare their music properly, why should the musicians be bothered to play it properly? I use Finale and find it to be more user-friendly and provide ever more features with each release.