Tom Stone is a saxophone and woodwind player from South West London.  He is currently based in Greenwich and studying at Trinity College of Music under the tuition of many great musicians and educators including Martin Speak, Simon Purcell, Mark Lockheart, Mick Foster as well as several others.  Although primarily a tenor saxophone player, Tom plays all of saxes - Baritone, Tenor, Alto and Soprano.

To hear some of Tom's playing please check out his myspace at: www.myspace.com/tomstonesax.

Tom started the saxophone aged 11 having already gained a distingtion in grade 8 violin.  Starting on alto he was soon offered the lead chair in his school's big band where by the end of his school career he had written and arranged several pieces as well as been a featured soloist on the band's album. 

In 2003 Tom was offered a place on the Royal Academy Junoir Jazz Course.  This course gave Tom the opportunity to meet and play with many great players.  Some of which include Tim Garland who Tom performed with in Norwich and Stan Sultzmann who Tom had several individual lessons off as well as playing a gig with in Norfolk.  Several people came in to give masterclasses to the 9 people on the course including Liam Noble, Nikki Iles, Pete Churchill, Tom Cawley, Darren Altman and others.  The Royal Academy's Junoir Jazz course is open to people aged between 13 and 18 and more info can be found at www.ram.ac.uk/juniors/jazz.htm.

It was Tom's early big band experience that led him to The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO).  Tom Joined NYJO in 2005 and now enjoys regular gigs with the band on Baritone and Tenor.  It was with NYJO that Tom made his Ronnie Scotts debut in January 2007.  For more information about NYJO please visit their website at www.nyjo.org.uk. 

Tom's latest project is his own quartet.  Formed at the beginning of January, the quartet, consisting of Tom Stone (saxes), Lewis Wright (vibes), Peter Randell (double bass) and Chris Preece (drums) plays original compositions by Tom himself as well as the other members of the band.  They are going into the studio soon so sample tracks with be available - keep an eye on this website for more info.  You will be able to hear this band live in and around London throughout the year!  Lewis Wright also has a website, feel free to check it out at: www.lewiswright.net.

Tom also has his own function band "Hand Fulla Soul".  This is a flexible band which varies from a quartet to a large scale pop/function group.  This flexibility in line-up allows for a flexibility in style.  The band will play whatever music is appropriate for the event from background jazz to soul and motown.  Available for all sorts of events including weddings, parties, dinners etc you can contact Tom for advice and ideas on what might be appropriate for you at handfullasoul@tomstonesax.co.uk. 

For all you saxophone players out there, here's some of the gear that Tom plays on:

Sax:	Model:	Mouthpiece:	Year:
Soprano	S 9930 Solid Silver	Meyer 7	New
Alto	Selmer Balanced Action	Meyer 6	1937
Tenor	Selmer Mark VI	Vintage Custom Link	1958
Baritone	Selmer Mark VI	Brancher (gold)	1978

Other bands that Tom has played with include:

The Paul Jordanous Big Band, (www.myspace.com/pauljordanousbigband),
The Paul Jordanous Quintet (www.pauljordanous.co.uk),
NYJO, (www.nyjo.org.uk)
Hand Fulla Soul,
Funkification,
The Royal Academy Junior Jazz (www.ram.ac.uk/juniors/jazz.htm),
Detente,
Raging Horns,
Account 99,
Trinity Big Band.

To contact Tom regarding any of the bands mentioned on the website or for individual playing please email him at: tom@tomstonesax.co.uk.