I used to look forward to your lessons the most for multiple reasons, we would cover the necessary syllabus but look at it deeper than other lecturers would care to, we would throw around ideas about styles and techniques that would be exciting, interesting and most importantly educational.

Some lecturers stick to teaching their lectures like passing passage from a book, they feel stale, like they don’t have any real interest in what they are teaching and, furthermore, aren’t fussed whether you are actually engaged or learning anything. This is the exact opposite of how it felt to learn from you. I believe there’s so much more to learning that just covering the material and going home at the end of the day, it’s so important to inspire students, talk about their direction, introduce them to music and concepts that challenge their perspective and understand of a topic. This is what helps people grow as musicians and people, something that many students are desperately looking for on their journey to musical self discovery.

Without your influence and direction I would have never dived into the depths of jazz and theory as much as i did; I would have never discovered the world of jazz fusions, african and eastern timbres, structure and harmonies and, fundamentally, would have been a less developed musician.

Finally, I know i can still contact you now, even as a graduate, if i was in need of help or direction with music. This matters to me, it’s more than having a teacher you forget about as you move onto your next chapter..”