[2] At fourteen he formed his first band, KT Trad Lads, with school friends Richard Murch, Mike Milton, Terry Pratt, and Bob Chard, and Eric Condell performing traditional jazz.

[2] With a scholarship he attended the Barry Summer School Jazz Course in Wales, where he met Elton Dean, Nick Evans, and Marc Charig and with them started a band.

[2] After leaving Vertigo, Tippett formed Centipede, a 50-piece band that included his wife Julie Driscoll, and brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians.

[2] As well as performing some concerts (limited economically by the size of the band), they recorded one double-album, Septober Energy, a Tippett composition, which was released on the RCA label in 1971.

For his next album as a leader, Blueprint (1972),[4] he used a smaller group comprising himself and Julie Tippetts with bassist Roy Babbington and drummer Frank Perry.

[8][9] This enabled beginners, amateurs and professional musicians to play in a large ensemble and was "emblematic of his quest to unite music of all types in a non-elitist, open to all, friendly environment free of establishment restrictions.

[1] “Aeolian” with Matthew Bourne, (Discus, 2021) With Company With Elton Dean With Paul Dunmall With King Crimson With Harry Miller With Mujician With others