I tried learning the violin from the ages 8-15, but couldny get it to work. Must've been a faulty instrument or something :-)
At High School they gave me a tuba, with more success. I liked playing low notes, you see. At this point, I had also begun messing about on the guitar (learning chords), and also transcribing the harmony of pop and rock songs. Then they let me play the tuba in the school jazz band, and so I started working out those chords too. I liked chords. And not the trousers, either.
Then my dad bought me a Louis Armstrong tape, and I also got a hold of some Glenn Miller (that's not a whisky, by the way) and gradually got into jazz that way. At school, I used to try and get my sax playing mates to play my arrangements, but it always sounded mince. I blame my mates.
In sixth year, I bought a bass guitar, so I had finally found my voice. I ditched the tuba in the jazz band, and took my bass guitar to rehearsals instead. It was at that point that local guru, Bobby Wishart, invited me to audition for the Strathclyde Youth Jazz Orchestra. Of course I passed the ear tests with flying colours and (even though I couldn't play the bass to save myself) was allowed to join the training band.
So my uni years were spent playing around the Glasgow jazz scene, especially with S.Y.J.O., Bobby Wishart Quartet, The John Murray Big Band, Iain Copeland, Chick Lyall and various small combo offshoots form S.Y.J.O.. It was through playing on this scene that I learned my trade as an improvising and reading bass guitarist. A little later, I was to play with funk/soul-jazz band, The Hi Heel Sneekers, as well as do various amateur theatre shows around West Central Scotland.
After getting my maths degree, I decided to prolong my jazzy student years by doing a PhD, but the less said about that, the better. At one point, I even took a break from the Scottish music scene to pursue (in vain) a mathematical career. I went to Germany to do this, but the jazz was rubbish, and the sense of humour was even worse. So after 2 years, I bought a double bass and came home to good old Glesga.
By this point I was 29. Where did the time go? I've been learning the double bass ever since, taking a handful of lessons from Aidan O'Donnell, Mario Caribe and Rick Standley. Recently, I've played with:
Todd Gordon, Niki King, Daisy Chute, Paul Towndrow, Konrad Wiszniewski, Tom MacNiven, Paul Harrison, The Everything Treatment, Horse, "The Rat Pack", various pantomimes and "Sunshine on Leith" (Apr - Jun 2007)
I am also the jazz double bass tutor on The University of Strathclyde B.A. Applied Music course.
