Nick’s musical journey started early – after learning clarinet and saxophone at school, he added percussion, playing drums in the Royal Air Force Apprentice Band, performing at the Royal Tournament at the beginning of his 18 years of RAF service.  Then came keyboards, guitar and flute.  During the 80s he studied the sub-tone style of playing the saxophone – an advanced technique that produces a warm, soft, breathy sound – a mellow style that his fans know well from his regular live gigs.

 

Having travelled the world with the RAF, Nick then spent the next 32 years doing it all again in the global computing industry with IBM, Fujitsu, SITA and BT (among many others) and travelled extensively.

 

Nick’s been performing live solo shows from the 90s and although he reads music he now plays by ear, using no sheet music or written notes, with a repertoire of 400+ songs all performed from memory.  He also creates his own backing tracks and produces high quality recordings from his home studio.

 

He loves interpreting melodies from the American Songbook, Jazz Standards, Classic Blues and popular hits and his musical influences include the saxophone greats Ben Webster, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Stan Getz.  Nick also collects, renovates and plays vintage (1930s) saxophones to recreate that distinctive pre-War sound reminiscent of the swing jazz era.

 

Not content with all that, Nick somehow also finds time for freelance photography, collecting and renovating watches and writing verse.  He’s a superfan of anything that flies (birds...planes...Superman…) and is a former UK Kite Flying champion.  His dog, Daisy, would claim that she’s his most important project – Nick wouldn’t dare disagree!