The London Years (1)
I had met Phil Lee some years before, in Brighton, mainly through sitting in with Ron Asprey (Jeff Clyne was on bass on that gig). More than four years later, I plucked up the courage to ask his advice about moving to London. He told me that Dick Crouch had a spare room, and needed a lodger. Dick ran a band called Paz, who were one of the original Latin fusion jazz bands. Many of the musicians I held in high esteem had played in that group: Allan Holdsworth, Ron Matthewson, Ray Warleigh, amongst others. Of course, I leapt at the chance of sharing a house with one of those guys.
Through Dick, I met Dick Morrisey, (who once invited me to sit in at Ronnie Scott's), Peter King, John Burch, Dave Green, Geoff Castle, Laurence Cottle, Tony Scott, Robin Williams, (the violinist, not the comedian), and plenty more.
I didn't end up playing regularly with any of these guys, but the chance to talk, sit in, and hang out was a great privilege. There was a regular Sunday night jam session in Ealing that Dick organised as well as frequent visits to the Bull's Head at Barnes. I once met Nigel Kennedy there.
Another violinist I met was Johnny van Derrick. He was doing a jazz gig in Town, and I went along and asked to sit in. He said yes, we had fun, and thereafter would do odd gigs together, as Fiddlers Three, with Robin Williams. I went to Johnny's house two or three times to talk fiddle, listen to his stories about gigs he'd done and sessions he'd played for. However, on the whole, I sought out and listened to sax players.
It was around this time that I started to busk regularly in the London Underground. I used to use a backing track with the tunes I wanted to practise, and I'd be down there all day, going from pitch to pitch. I would usually end up at Ronnie Scott's club, to listen to a great player and hang out in the downstairs bar. That was a great place to hang out. There used also to be duos in the upstairs bar at one time, and I used to sit in occasionally. Or I'd go to the Brahms and Liszt for a jam session. Another frequent session was in the early hours at the old 606 Club under Christopher Wray's Lighting Emporium on the King's Road, Fulham. All sorts of musicians would get down there: Don Weller, Tina May, Duncan Lamont, Winston Clifford, Clark Tracey, amongst many others. I also used to go to the Bass Clef for their jam sessions. This was Peter Ind's club in Hoxton.
So, sitting in was the main way that I learnt how to play with other people. But playing violin was a bit of a disadvantage. Not only was it difficult to be heard, even when amplified, but there is in England an intrinsic prejudice against the instrument. I asked a well-known trombonist (now deceased) whether I could sit in. He asked me what instrument I played, and when he heard 'violin', he just laughed and turned his back. Another time (in Bristol) I was talking to a well-respected jazz organiser. When I said that he'd not given me any work, he replied, "Well, the violin doesn't really belong in jazz, does it?" I gave him a history lesson... but he still didn't give me a gig!