Ross Stanley and Paul Booth

Paul was born in the North East of England, and as a young boy started playing music with his father in the clubs and bars of Southern Spain where the family were temporarily residing. On his return home, he discovered the local jazz scene and fell in love with the music and the art of improvisation. As a homeschooled child he was able to fit all his studies around music, enabling him to sit his GCSE and A-Level exams early. He won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in 1993 at the age of 16, becoming their youngest student on a degree course. That year Paul also won the 'Best Modern Jazz Player’ category at the televised Young Jazz Player of the Year.

Over the next four years at the Academy, Paul combined his studies with gigs in London and across the UK, that included a long association with Colombian percussionist Roberto Pla and a partnership with pianist Alex Wilson that’s still going strong. During his third year, Paul won the prestigious Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship in Miami USA, and spent a six month exchange in Perth at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. Following his graduation in 1997, Paul immersed himself in the world of the professional musician. He eventually joined the European Glenn Miller Orchestra for eight tours, before landing the saxophone chair for the worldwide smash hit show, Riverdance, staying for eighteen months. In 2005 Paul toured the US and Japan with Basia and Matt Bianco, and soon after received the call from Steve Winwood with whom he has been working ever since.

In 2004 Paul released his first solo album ‘It’s Happening’, which was followed by the albums ‘No Looking Back’ (2007), ‘Pathways’ (2009) and ‘Trilateral’ (2011) Patchwork Project (2015). All of which were extremely well received available through his own Pathway Records label.

Paul’s ability to blend into any musical surrounding coupled with his talents as a multi-instrumentalist has led to him being regularly chosen to perform with many well-known artists. Paul has toured, performed & recorded around the world with The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, Carlos Santana, Van Morrison, The Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Khan, Kylie Mingoue, Jamiroquai, Gregory Porter, Barry Manilow, Warren Haynes, Marti Pellow, Derek Trucks, Eddie Henderson, Geoffrey Keezer, Clarence Penn and Ingrid Jensen. He has worked with Incognito, Brand New Heavies, The BBC Big Band, Michael Janisch Quintet and the Ryan Quigley Quintet and so many more.

Paul currently performs his own music with a number of different groups:

The critically acclaimed Patchwork Project, featuring the singer Jacqui Dankworth, Giorgio Serci (guitar), Rod Youngs (drums), Davide Mantovani (bass) & Satin Singh (percussion). Their first album was released in 2015, with Volume 2 to follow in 2019.

The world music big band Bansangu Orchestra, for whom Paul is co-founder and musical director. Their eponymous debut album was released August 2018.

A newly-formed quartet with Steve Hamilton (keyboards), Dave Whitford (double bass) and Andrew Bain (drums).

And finally, Paul leads an organ trio with Ross Stanley (organ) and Andrew Bain (drums).

Since then, Ross’s musical skills have kept him in high demand, seeing him play with jazz names such as Eddie Gomez, Dick Oatts, Gary Smulyan, Seamus Blake, Will Vinson, Nigel Hitchcock, Phil Robson, Gareth Lockrane, Dennis Rollins, Guy Barker, Ian Shaw, Jamie Cullum, Liane Carroll, Norma Winstone, Stan Sulzman, Steve Arguelles, John Paracelli, as well as being a regular member of the Hamish Stuart Band, Nigel Price Organ Trio, Jim Mullen Organ Trio and the Jacqui Dankworth band and performing in many small and large ensembles – The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Nostalgia 77 Octet, The Heritage Orchestra.

Ross has also toured with Tom Jones, Alfie Boe, Maceo Parker, Zigaboo Modeliste, James Torme, Steve Howe, Rebecca Ferguson and has worked with Steve Ferrone, Pino Palladino, Omar, Paloma Faith, Antonio Forcione, Deodato and has recorded for Goldie, US3, Ghost Poet, Trevor Horn and Simply Red among others, including film / tv work. Ross is a Yamaha artist, Hammond endorsee and two times winner of a British Jazz Award in the organ category.

The intention is always to record 100% live in the studio, nodding towards the great studio bands of the ‘60s like The Funk Brothers (Motown), The Swampers (Muscle Shoals) and The Mar-Keys (Staxs). Capturing the energy and chemistry between the artist and the 'crack' studio band is at the heart of all their recordings, all videoed by film maker Leo Mansell, further reflecting the 'organic' nature of the proceedings.

So far, over 50 videos have been produced featuring artists such as Hamish Stuart (AWB, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr), Sarah Jane Morris, US Grammy award winning Mike Farris, Jo Harman, Orphy Robinson MBE, Louise Clare Marshall (Jools Holland) and many more. Masterlink aims to not only feature some of the most established and respected names in the business, but also give a platform for emerging artists who truly have the talent to perform at the required level. Its 'A&R' advisory team includes BiGiAM Artist Services and other management organisations geared to supporting credible artists with like-minded values.

The studio house band (a.k.a. the Funkestra) generally runs as a small collective of international, yet UK-based world-class musicians (with CV's to prove it - think Bowie, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Mark Ronson & more) which, at its core, comprises:

Stefan Redtenbacher (bs, producer) Mike Sturgis (drs), Karl Vanden Bossche (perc), Mike Outram/Tony Remy (gtr), Ross Stanley (keys)

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