DART VALLEY STOMPERS - Key Persons
Chris comes from a musical family and began playing music at an early age. He is a very versatile drummer and plays a wide range of styles including traditional, mainstream & swing. Chris attended Huddersfield Music College where he studied orchestral percussion and piano and performed in classical orchestras including a concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Throughout his musical career Chris has worked with a number of different bands playing a wide range of music in a variety of settings including clubs, festivals & theatres. Chris is a listening drummer and provides sympathetic backing whilst continuing to propel the band along with its characteristic stomping style.
Jeremy is the founder and leader of the band and is renowned for his masterly playing of his saxophones & clarinet, his arranging and composing skills and his vocal renditions.
He's been playing music from an early age having learnt flute and piano as a child adding saxes, clarinet and vocals in his early twenties.
As a very young man he won a prestigious award for his playing and served an 'apprenticeship' as a sideman with several nationally acclaimed bands before branching out into leading bands of his own.
Since then, Jeremy's musical career has gone from strength to strength and has seen him playing with famous names all over the UK and abroad including Acker Bilk, Digby Fairweather, Cy Laurie, George Melly, Humphrey Lyttleton, Danny Moss, Tommy Burton, Beryl Brydon, Enrico Tomasso, Jim Fryer, Roy Williams, Dave Newton and the list goes on.
Keith started playing music from an early age as a self-taught guitarist. Whilst at college he began playing bass guitar in a rock group and was soon performing at local gigs.
Keith developed an interest in jazz as an avid listener of his big brother�s collection of Chris Barber LPs. This whetted his appetite to play jazz and he bought a double bass.
Kevin started his musical career as a boy with the Cornwall Youth Orchestra and brass bands in Cornwall.
With this firm grounding Kevin enlisted at the age of 18 as a musician in the Queen's Own Hussars, Royal Amour Corps and studied for 2 years at The Royal Military School of Music. On completion he returned to the QOH as principal trombone and featured soloist, which involved extensive touring and concert engagements all over Europe.
After leaving the army Kevin spent several years free-lancing in London before returning to the South-West for further study at the Dartington College of Arts where he obtained a B.A. in Music and the Performing Arts.
Since that time Kevin has become well-established and respected as both a trombonist and a vocalist in the UK and tours extensively across Europe with a wide variety of ensembles.