Rencontre avec Ross Stanley

Introduction

Hi, my name is Ross Stanley. I'm a keyboard player based in London. I'm not originally from London; I'm actually from down on the south coast near Southampton. However, I've been living here for the past 18 or so years now.

My Experience

If you've listened to any of the backing tracks, you'll find that I'm actually performing on many of them, though I hasten to add, it was many years ago. It's been very enjoyable for me to return to these pieces and discover different things within them the second time around.

Musical Background

• Originally, I attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a classical piano player.
• I quickly transferred to playing jazz piano.
• During that time, I also played classical church organ and now, bizarrely, I play jazz Hammond organ.

I graduated from Guildhall in 2004, and ever since, I've been working as a professional musician in the music scene.

Opportunities

I've been very fortunate to travel the world and see all kinds of different places and continents. Most of all, I've had incredible opportunities to play with talented musicians across various genres:

• Jazz Setting: Played with the great Eddie Gomez in his quartet.
• Modern Saxophone: Collaborated with Seamus Blake in his organ trio.
• Progressive Rock: Performed in an organ trio with Steve Howe.
• Funk: Toured with Maceo Parker.
• Blues Rock: Worked with Zigaboo Modeliste from the Meters and toured with Tom Jones, during which his band was affectionately known as the "Tom Jones Pub Band" due to its blues-oriented style.

I've covered a lot of different styles, including folk music, country music, and contemporary classical music.

Course Overview

My role on this course is to guide you through your musical journey from grade one all the way up to grade eight.

Focus Areas

In particular, we will be focusing mostly on:

• Blues style
• A little bit of rock
• A touch of jazz fusion as well

Conclusion

All that's left for me to say is that you must have fun with these pieces. There's some great material included, and I know I've enjoyed putting them together to teach you.

Best of luck, and see you on the course!