Ever since I took up at saxophone at the age of 15, I've been a huge Big Band fanatic. In fact my first gig was with the school Big Band, I was thrown in the deep end (something which has been happening fairly consistently ever since) after a few months tuition and found myself grappling with the delights of the Glenn Miller pad! Around this time my dad started to notice that his small but very well formed collection of Big Band jazz (including Duke Ellington and Count Basie) had begun to mysteriously disappear only to be found sometime later in my room. (I think I still have some of your Duke records, err, sorry dad!).

After joining a local Big Band (called Page 3 and still going strong) and later on whilst still at school, I became a member of the Bedfordshire Youth Jazz Orchestra. My ears became curious for a whole range of Big Band writing, from Gil Evans' magical landscapes created for Miles Davis and others, to the charts of Sammy Nestico, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, Nelson Riddle, Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones, Oliver Nelson, Don Ellis, Mike Gibbs, and Mike Westbrook to name a few in the endless list.

One of my secret dreams has always been to write for my own Big Band, and I remember discovering that Geoff shared a similar passion after a late night discussion somewhere on the road during the summer of '97. I remember we talked then about how a Big Band and beats project could really work. I recall we both got quite fired up by the thought. The project finally got off the ground in 1999 when we recorded "Genetically Modified". Unfortunately due to both of our touring and recording commitments we were unable to fully finish the first album until the summer of 2003. Inbetween there has been a couple of super-charged gigs, much fun, and hard working hours in the studio learning how to form the ed/ge sound. Thanks to Geoff, and JC our genius engineer, the dream has become a reality. I hope you will enjoy "A View From The..." and the many more to follow.