William Michael Allingham Ashton OBE (born 6 December 1936) is a British band leader, saxophonist and composer.
He is best known for co-founding NYJO - the British National Youth Jazz Orchestra, of which he was Musical Director from 1965 until his retirement in 2009 when he became Life President.
[1][2][3] From 1955-57 he was educated at Rossall School which soon developed into a career in the Royal Air Force doing National Service, before he then went to Oxford University in 1957, where he first began playing jazz professionally at functions and competitions, founding the Oxford University Big Band.
On leaving university in 1960, he went to France and worked as a professional musician in the American army bases for about nine months.
After working with Red Bludd’s Bluesicians, he founded what became NYJO with Pat Evans and Mike Kershaw in 1965.