In 1983, I telephoned John Taylor to ask whether he might consider being part of my ensemble for a BBC broadcast. He didn’t know me and he’d certainly never heard my music, but he said yes. We stayed in touch. Then John called asking if I would produce his 1987 Arts Council tour of the quartet Foil, happy for me to make mistakes as I basically learned on the job.
We continued to work together: Kenny Wheeler, Peter Erskine, Charlie Mariano, Julian and Steve Argüelles, the Creative Jazz Orchestra, his trio with Palle Danielsson and Martin France. Commissions were secured: Ambleside Days, Requiem For A Dreamer, Exits and Entrances and The Green Man, with the first three forming part of a wonderful discography that is largely still available. Those in possession of his numerous radio broadcasts (particularly those on ageing cassettes) will be guarding them very closely.
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