Graham Woodhouse started learning music aged eleven, playing on a battered old school trombone. Under the tuition of his peripatetic teacher, Mr Sam Lydall, Graham made quick progress and over the following few years became a fixture in the “City of Derby Youth Band”. With a lot of encouragement from his parents Beryl and Arnold, Graham passed the “Royal Schools of Music” Grade 8 exam with distinction at the age of seventeen, thanks to Pete Lacey, his trombone teacher at the time.

Graham developed a keen interest in all varieties of music, particularly jazz and was encouraged by local musicians in his home city of Derby to sit-in with them on a regular basis. During this time he got to accompany many jazz greats such as Wild Bill Davison, Yank Lawson, Roy Williams, John Barnes, Earl Warren, Kenny Davern, George Masso etc. Graham was also greatly influenced by the energy of the British style of traditional jazz artists such as Pete Allen, Kenny Ball, Chris Barber, Acker Bilk and Alex Welsh, whilst trying to emulate the truly great trombone styling of the likes of J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Frank Rosolino, Carl Fontana etc.

During the nineteen nineties, Graham gained much experience playing commercial music on cruise ships, backing Las Vegas style revue shows and accompanying the star turns that would come on to the ship. During this time Graham worked with stars such as Petula Clark, Neil Sedaka, Vic Damone, Al Martino and many more. Since returning to Britain, Graham (who is also a proficient saxophone player) has worked in various jazz and soul bands and continues to develop his style. In 2004 Graham’s career took a big leap when he was invited to join the Pete Allen Jazz Band and released his first solo album, “Gettin’ Sentimental”.

Photo by Chris Stanbury
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Graham currently plays on a gold plated Vincent Bach Stradivarius LT16MC (Bill Watrous model) with a Rudy Muck Cushion Rim 23 mouthpiece and a King 1130 "Flugabone" marching valve trombone.