for my 50th birthday,encouraged by saxophonist Rob Mills,I assembled a huge 50+ ensemble to play one of my compositions at The Union Chapel in Islington. Although I had written parts, I taught most of it aurally, which meant that the 13 piece vocal section could sing all the horn parts as well as their own and for once it was the horn players who were challenged. Songs and Compositions complement my passion for free improvisation. It's the glorious dance of Spontaneity and Structure. Beautifully designed structures can lead to great improvisation and some of the strongest structures I have experienced have come from totally spontaneous music making. I love telling a story through song with little or no embellishment but if the mood takes me, my improvising skills  enable me to engage in  unexpected variations on a theme! I've also found that improvising over chord changes has become much more of a creative venture.