Born: October 9, 1959 Primary Instrument: Sax, tenor
Tony began playing brass at school, before moving to Clarinet at the age of 12, and Saxophone a bit later. He turned professional in the early ‘80s, playing sax as a session musician in London, and running various rock bands in night clubs and on the gig circuit in London and South Wales. He maintained his interest in the Clarinet, and in the early ‘90s began playing jazz on the circuit in the West Country, whilst teaching on the Performing Arts syllabus at North Devon College.
Moving to Surrey in ‘98, he is now widely known as a Reeds teacher, with students ranging from adult beginners to advanced Grade 8 and Diploma-level specialists. His forte is improvisational jazz.
Tony also runs various groups: a duo with Ray Pool, the pianist (Wright by the Poolside); a cool jazz function band (Anthony’s AllStars) which features both clarinet and saxophone; a duo with a vocalist/guitarist in which he plays clarinet (These Foolish Things); and the six-piece That Shaw Thing, in which he plays Clarinet. He also plays sax in a more modern jazz group, Jazz n’Tonic, and deps locally for various other outfits.
Much of his time is spent composing and arranging, both for his work with Ray, and his own solo studio recordings of ‘intelligent pop’.
