All London's live music

I was learning a brass band solo piece, Concerto de Aranjuez, and found your version on an illegal download site. “Who is this Miles Davis guy?” I asked. No-one in my provincial orbit knew your name, so I assumed you were just some guy, and that I discovered you. After that I looked for you in CD shops, piecing together bits of pocket money to buy your work and playing it on the Discman in my hoodie on the long walk home because I could no longer afford the bus.

I learnt the melody and solo of Four on my trumpet by ear because it stood out to me, not knowing it was an important part of the great American songbook, and not knowing I was already immersing myself in jazz training. I was already starting to write my own music, my own words, but you blew everything wide open and showed me a whole world of music that I hadn’t known. You made me want to play jazz. You made me realise I was an artist. I wasn’t just inspired by you, I studied you - and not just the notes but you. How you had one ear on the notes you played and your other ear on the whole thing, the aesthetic, the production, the vibe.