He was one of the founding members of London's Club Eleven (this was the first London jazz club to offer performers a paid gig) and played there (1952-1956) in a band with Ronnie Scott, trumpeter Hank Shaw, pianist Tommy Pollard, and drummer Tony Crombie.
[1] He studied with James Merrett at the Guildhall School of Music and participated in the European tours of Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Zoot Sims, and Roy Eldridge.
He became a member of Jack Parnell's ATV Orchestra in 1957 and recorded with Stephane Grappelli, Anita O'Day, and Eddie Vinson.
He continued to freelance into the 2000s often playing gigs close to his home in East Anglia until his death in June 2004.
At this point he was semi-retired although he continued to practise each day and post cassette tapes to friends containing music which he had discovered and was enthusiastic about.