Our team
The lovely people at The Spitz
Award-winning professional musicians from London’s jazz, soul, blues, folk and world music scenes, plus the small team behind every session.
Musicians
Marcus Bonfanti
Musician
Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Frontman of Ten Years After and Ronnie Scott’s Blues Explosion
Highlights: British Blues Awards for Best Songwriter (2012) and Best Acoustic Performer (2013 & 2014). Fronted Ten Years After from 2014 to 2024, and has worked with Ginger Baker, Eric Burdon and P.P. Arnold.
Pete Wareham
Musician
Saxophonist, composer and band leader. Melt Yourself Down, Acoustic Ladyland and Seb Rochford’s Pulled By Magnets & Polar Bear.
Highlights: Won a BBC Jazz Award (Best Band) with Acoustic Ladyland and a Paul Hamlyn Award for composition. Mercury Prize nominations with Polar Bear and Nadine Shah’s band. Latest: Pray for Me I Don’t Fit In with Melt Yourself Down (2022).
Izo Fitzroy
Musician
Powerful vocals, honest songwriting and dynamic live performances. A unique and captivating blend of soul, gospel and blues.
Highlights: Her album How The Mighty Fall was nominated for the Académie du Jazz Prix Soul. She has recorded with Kraak & Smaak, Crazy P and Smoove & Turrell. Latest solo album: A Good Woman (2023).
Alice Zawadzki
Musician
Vocalist, violinist, songwriter and composer. “A genuine original” (The Guardian). A distinctive and individual presence on the creative European music scene.
Highlights: Jazz FM Vocalist of the Year nominee (2020). Debut China Lane was a BBC Radio 3 Album of the Week. Latest: Za Górami on ECM (2024), with Fred Thomas and Misha Mullov-Abbado.
Pete Lee
Musician
Pianist, composer & bandleader. Royal Academy of Music graduate. Pete has toured with Il Divo & Maverick Sabre, Gabrielle Aplin and Tom Walker.
Highlights: Royal Academy of Music graduate (with distinction). Toured with Gabrielle Aplin, including Glastonbury 2017. Debut album The Velvet Rage (Ubuntu Music, 2018) features his 10-piece band with strings.
Ben Hazleton
Musician
Ben plays with anyone who’s anyone on the London jazz scene and has an interest in Indian classical music. Ben doesn’t do social media.
Highlights: Brought together sitarist Clem Alford and producer Tim Deluxe to form Uniting of Opposites, a jazz and Indian classical project. Album: Ancient Lights (Tru Thoughts, 2018).
Jay Phelps
Musician
Trumpeter, composer, band leader, educator and writer – Jay has performed with some of the world’s top names, with an instantly recognisable warm and projecting tone.
Highlights: Co-founder of Empirical, whose debut was Jazzwise Album of the Year. As a sideman he has played with Amy Winehouse, George Benson and Wizkid. Latest album: The Now (2023).
Charlotte Campbell
Musician
Singer-songwriter whose upbeat, chirpy originals and covers of pop classics are a hit with all ages.
Highlights: Studied at the BRIT School and ICMP. Has performed across London and on European tours, and busks on the Southbank, where she writes many of her songs about London and street life.
Tanya Cracknell
Musician
Tanya Cracknell is The Grime Violinist. She works in the commercial music industry, fusing violin with rap and chart music as a performer, recording artist and composer.
Highlights: Has appeared in videos with Lethal Bizzle, Lady Leshurr, JME and P Money, performed with Giggs on Channel 4, and played Glastonbury, Boomtown and the Royal Albert Hall.
Laura Oakes
Musician
Genre-spanning vocalist Laura has performed all over the world most recently a European tour with acclaimed artist Tom Walker.
Highlights: British Country Music Awards winner, played on BBC Radio 2 by Bob Harris. Backing vocalist for Tom Walker’s European arena tour (including the O2), Sam Ryder and Rhys Lewis.
Dom Pipkin
Musician
Piano from London, Soul from New Orleans. ‘One of the worlds greatest exponents of New Orleans piano’ — Blues in Britain magazine,
Highlights: Has played with Allen Toussaint, Dr John and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and has been Morcheeba’s keyboard player since 1996. Latest album: Live At The Temple (2023).
Laurence Corns
Musician
Guitar player, composer and singer with a diverse background in different musical styles.
Highlights: Was Musical Director of Fela! at the National Theatre. He has played with Stella Chiweshe and The Bhundu Boys, and fronts the band Strange Cargo.
Emine Pirhasan
Musician
Emine Pirhasan is a singer, lyricist, and composer known for her soulful voice on the London blues and soul scene. Emine holds a Master’s in Popular Music from Goldsmiths, University
Nathaniel Keen
Musician
One sixth of London-based Moroccan Gnawa band “Electric Jalaba”.
Highlights: Electric Jalaba mix Moroccan Gnawa with funk, dub and electronics, led by Gnawa master Simo Lagnawi. Latest album: El Hal / The Feeling (Strut Records, 2021).
Tom Mason
Musician
One of the most versatile double bassists and bass guitarists on the UK music scene. Questlove, Mark Ronson, Anoushka Shankar, Jamie Cullum, Ghostpoet, Lily Allen, Iggy Azalea,
Arthur Lea
Musician
Piano player, keyboard player, singer, songwriter, general improviser. Anything from old style RnB to 21st Century jazz.
Highlights: Jazz FM called him a “piano legend in the making”. He has worked with Kae Tempest and Kylie Minogue, and leads Arthur Lea’s Bootleg Trio and Bootleg Brass.
Preetha Narayanan
Musician
Violinist, composer, and educator with a unique musical story that crosses countries, cultures, and genres.
Highlights: Co-founder of the string duo Balladeste and of Quest Ensemble. She has worked with Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, Talvin Singh and Kae Tempest. Balladeste’s Beyond Breath got four stars from Songlines.
Melissa James
Musician
“Sensitive, soulful and emotional vocals”
Highlights: Debut Day Dawns was recorded at RAK Studios; All About Jazz called it a “strikingly beautiful debut”. Follow-up Stripped Back features fellow Spitz pianist Arthur Lea. Founder of Sing for Sane.
Tom Herbert
Musician
Professor of Electric and Acoustic Bass. Bassist in Mercury Music Prize nominated bands The Invisible and Polar Bear.
Highlights: Bassist in Mercury Prize-nominated bands Polar Bear and The Invisible. He has recorded or performed with Adele, Grace Jones, Thom Yorke, Beck and Hugh Masekela. Teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.
Mussinghi Brian Edwards
Musician
One of the UK’s leading tenor sax players
Highlights: Played with the Jazz Warriors and Jazz Jamaica as a teenager, and later toured with Salif Keita. Latest album: Mussinghi (Banger Factory, 2025).
Liran Donin
Musician
Bass player, producer and composer with a lyrical approach to composing & songwriting.
Highlights: Has recorded and toured with Mercury-nominated bands Led Bib and Polar Bear, and worked with Mulatu Astatke, The Unthanks and Chrissie Hynde. His band 1000 Boats’ 8 Songs was Guardian Jazz Album of the Month.
Elchin Shirinov
Musician
Elchin is a jazz pianist, composer and arranger, originally from Azerbaijan. Most recently he was included in All About Jazz’s December 2022 poll of the top 200 favourite living pianists in the world.
Highlights: Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan. Pianist in the Avishai Cohen Trio from 2018 to 2022, recording three albums. Latest album: Two Hours After Midnight (2023) with Louise Dodds.
Bruno Heinen
Musician
Professor of piano and composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music.
Highlights: Paul Hamlyn Composers Award nominee. Has played piano with the LSO under Sir Simon Rattle and has a long partnership with singer Reem Kelani. Latest: Rain Shadows (2023), a duo with James Kitchman.
Graham Hughes
Musician
Reputed proponent of trad New Orleans jazz
Highlights: Plays trombone and sousaphone. Leads Graham Hughes & the Sunshine Kings, the Brass Volcanoes and the New Orleans funk band the Lapazoos.
Kat Eaton
Musician
“A fabulous vocal talent” – Jools Holland
Highlights: Has toured supporting Jools Holland, Paul Carrack and The Teskey Brothers, and co-written with Caro Emerald and Ruby Turner. Latest album: Honestly (2024).
Keli Woods
Musician
Keli is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. Drawing on his experience as a monk and a diverse range of influences (from big band swing to Vedic kirtan), his soulful compositions ignite introspection and invite listeners to ponder life’s big questions.
Highlights: Has written nearly 200 original songs and produced for Radhika Das and Phoebe Grant. Album: Falling Upwards (2020).
Management
Trustees
Sarah Rutherford
Chair of Trustees
Writer, researcher, consultant on gender in the workplace. Sarah became a trustee of The Spitz Charitable Trust in March 2016
Marvin Browne
Trustee
Clothing designer and Spitalfields stalwart Marvin became a trustee after meeting Jane during The Spitz’s time in the East London market
Perri Lewis
Trustee
Co-founder and director of Mastered
Constantly trying to figure out how to get power to those who lack it. Especially passionate about supporting talent with unconventional career pathways.
Zach Said
Trustee
Independent artist and podcaster with a wealth of experience in tech and online visibility.