Tom Barford is a 21 year old Tenor/Soprano Saxophonist and Composer based in London. He began studying at the Royal Academy of Music with a scholarship in 2013. Tom has been lucky enough to have performed alongside Alex Garnett, Nigel Hitchcock, Barry Green, Greame Blevins, James Allsopp, Steve Fishwick and Gareth Lockrane amongst others. He has been lucky enough to have recieved 1-1 tuition from Ben Wendel, Chris Potter, Iain Ballamy, Will Vinson, Donny McCaslin, Seamus Blake, Stan Sulzmann and Julian Siegel. Tom’s most promintant
musical influences include John Coltrane, Seamus Blake, Bill Evans, Ben Wendel, Iain Ballamy, Claude Debussy, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and Joe Lovano. Tom has performed at many prestigious venues across the country such as Ronnie Scott's, the Vortex, The 606 Club, The Spice of Life, Buckingham Palace, The Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and Kings Place. Tom is also experienced in supplying music for function events with Billy Marrows (link is in the "performs with..." section of this page). "The Billy Marrows Jazz Duo is made up of Billy Marrows on guitar and Tom Barford on tenor saxophone. Both very experienced musicians, Billy and Tom are in their final year of studying jazz at the Royal Academy of Music and have played at many venues including Ronnie Scott's, Queen Elithabeth Hall as well as jazz festivals across the country. Regularly performing at private and public functions, the duo can provide the perfect music for the event, whether you require gentle background music or something lively to create a party atmosphere. Our repertoire mainly consists of american songbook and jazz standard but is flexible and we are open to specific requests. The duo can also be expanded to include double bass and drums and Billy can play the banjo if you would like the music to be in a trad jazz style! Billy and Tom have provided music for functions at venues including the Royal Automobile Club, Buckingham Palace, Epsom Derby, Royal College of Physicians and King's College London and constantly maintain a high level of professionalism and reliability."
