I started out playing in dixieland band also, when I was 15. Eddie Condon was my hero and I read and re-read his autobiography til it fell to pieces. I loved all those bits where he was touring all round America, and playing jazz for famous gangsters in Chicago - when he wasn't any older than I was at the time.

My favourite period nowadays though is Miles Davis - before he went into jazz funk and when all the instruments were acoustic. In truth I like most jazz. my favourite track of all time is Larry Adler and Django playing Lover Come Back to Me in Paris 1939. You can hear Django singing as he strums, waiting for his solo.