Tom Grant (jazz musician) Tom Grant (jazz musician) Tom Grant (born February 22, 1946) is an American smooth jazz/jazz fusion pianist and vocalist. Tom Grant was born in Portland, Oregon, to a musical family. His father was a tap dancer who owned a record store in Portland, and his brother was an avant-garde jazz pianist. Grant learned to play piano and drums when he was young. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he traveled to New York City in 1970 with Native American saxophonist Jim Pepper. This led to Grant touring and recording with jazz greats Woody Shaw, Charles Lloyd, and Tony Williams.
Bill Ashton (jazz musician) to jazz in 1978 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. Ashton has also received the BBC Radio 2 Jazz Award in 1995 for his Services to Jazz, a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and is a Fellow of Leeds College of Music. Bill Ashton (jazz musician) William Michael Allingham Ashton OBE (born 6 December 1936) is a British saxophonist and composer, best known for co-founding the London Schools’ Orchestra, now the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), of which he is Musical Director. Ashton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire.