I've played in jazz outfits and occasionally as a solo guitarist for over 50 years - in between playing rock'n roll, funk and folk music! I first heard "traditional" (in the UK) jazz in the late '50s, when there was a vogue for that music here, and started playing in a 7-piece mainstream band around 1978. I was with them for about 5 years before peeling off to play other music and, in that time, played with people like trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton, clarinettist Monty Sunshine and tenor player Danny Moss. All great experiences in a period which taught me a huge amount about music, improvisation, transposition, etc.

My current "hero", if one can have such a thing in one's mid-70s, is New York guitarist Woody Mann, who studies with Reverend Gary Davis as a teenager, then went to Juillard and also studies with Lennie Tristano. I've taken the plunge and signed up for Woody's 3-day guitar "retreat" in Buxton, Darbyshire next June. I don't know whether I'll be up to the assorted standards there, but it will be a wonderful experience.

And so it goes on.