Keith started out, like so many brass players, in the local Salvation Army band. In his late teens he moved onto bass trombone.
In the late 1970s he got his LGSM and at that time was lucky enough to be involved in some master classes with Denis Wick during part time study at the Guildhall. This enables him to occasionally drop into conversation the phrase, "as Denis Wick once said to me . . . .", although he probably wasn't being addressed directly at the time.
He joined what was then the Page Three Big Band in 2000 and a couple of years or so later moved from the Stevenage Symphony Orchestra to his present orchestral position with the St Albans Symphony Orchestra (pictured below in rehearsal for Janacek's Sinfonietta as part of SASO's 2005 New Year's Day concert). The Page Three Big Band has since renamed itself as the Shades of Swing Big Band.
In addition to these regular appointments Keith has guested on a number of very interesting performances of rarely performed pieces such as the Hovhaness St Vartan Symphony and Varese's Integrales and many others, including the very demanding alto trombone part in Britten's Burning Fiery Furnace. He also played first trombone for the European premier of Dave Brubeck's cantata The Gates of Justice in 2005.
Keith has also guested alongside Richard Baker and Dame Diana Rigg as they have narrated Peter and the Wolf (i.e. performances on two separate occasions) and was part of the brass section for The Enid's performance of Childe Roland and their masterpiece Fand at the Birmingham Town Hall in 2010. This enables him to describe himself, "as seen on YouTube".
In 2015 Keith decided to stop playing big band jazz to go over to playing early music and to that end is currently working on getting used to his set of alto, tenor and bass sackbuts.
Basic solo repertoire (other pieces can be made available for specific engagements):
Albrechtsberger Concerto in B Flat
Arnold: Fantasia
David: Concertino.
Guilmant: Morceau Symphonique
Rimsky-Korsakov: Concerto.
In addition to the above Keith has written a piece in which the soloist is required to play bass, tenor and alto trombones in the three respective movements, together with string orchestra.
