In 1992 Tina May was the first winner of the Musicians’ Company Young Jazz Musician of the Year award. She was so delighted by the Company’s support that she became a liveryman and an enthusiastic member of its jazz committee, which I chaired at the time.
Through her wide experience of both gigging and teaching she made an enormous contribution, helping to select the finalists for the annual competition and often joining them on stage for a couple of numbers during their performance. As she said: “All jazz musicians should know how to accompany a singer.”
When we started our series of Company evenings at Crazy Coq’s in Soho she volunteered to lead the first one, with a band consisting of other winners of the award, thereby ensuring wonderful music, wittily introduced.
