While most people were having a well earned rest over the Christmas period, conductor Huw Thomas was in London working as MD of the Duncan Fraser Big Band on their forthcoming CD release, ‘Dealing in Wheeler’.

Jazz talent

The recording features some of the country's finest young jazz playing talent, with performers from the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College, Guildhall and Trinity School of Music, as well as members of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Amazingly, the average age of the players was only 22.

The playing was fantastic and the album is going to be a testament to the standards of young jazz players in the UK todayHuw Thomas

Fantastic

Huw told 4BR: "The playing was fantastic and the album is going to be a testament to the standards of young jazz players in the UK today."

He added: "Duncan Fraser, the band's leader, is a very talented young trumpet and flugel horn player and also wrote and arranged every track on the forthcoming album. His clever use of harmony and strong influence from Kenny Wheeler are evident in these great compositions for big bands."

The album will be released in late February.