Rhythm & Jazz outfit JT4tet sees the reunion of guitarist Jon Taylor and keyboard player Tim Richards, both members of The London Blues Band, Roogalator II and Grooveyard in the 1990s, also backing British blues queen Dana Gillespie, US bluesman Mojo Buford and Chicago blues diva Deitra Farr.

Jon Taylor led the acclaimed Bop Brothers from 1986 to 2000. Many of Britain’s finest musicians passed through its ranks, such as saxophonists Dick Heckstall-Smith (Alexis Korner, Graham Bond, John Mayall, Colosseum), Jerry Underwood (John Martyn, Spirit Level) and Ed Jones (Incognito, Us3, Kid Creole), vocalist Earl Green (Otis Grand, Paul Lamb) and drummer Sam Kelly (Cymande). The band released two CDs on the Abacabe label, Strange News (1995) and Bop Brothers… and Sisters (2000), the latter including cameos by Ruby Turner, Connie Lush, Taka Boom, Deitra Farr and Dana Gillespie.

The 2000s saw Jon join the Daniel Smith Blues Band for ten years, recording two albums. He has also been a session guest on BBC Radio Two’s Paul Jones Show five times, and backed visiting US bluesmen Champion Jack Dupree, Charlie Sayles and Lefty Dizz, as well as top British jazz artists Harry Beckett, Don Weller, Dick Morrissey and Art Themen.

Tim Richards has led many acclaimed bands including Spirit Level (1979-1999), the nine-piece Great Spirit, and the long running Tim Richards Trio, with over ten CDs to his name. He was pianist with Otis Grand & the Dance Kings, appearing on their debut album Always Hot. His latest band The Hextet is a six-piece featuring Ed Jones and ex-Ronnie Scott trumpeter Dick Pearce; their CD Telegraph Hill was released in 2015 to rave reviews.

The rhythm section of bassist Andy Lafone and drummer Pete Miles goes back to the mid-70s, when they backed American guitarist-vocalist Danny Adler on the London pub-rock circuit. Lafone has also held down the bottom end for Jon Cleary, Geno Washington, Johnny Mars, J. B. Hutto, Snowboy, Matt Bianco, Mark Murphy, Mike Lindup (Level 42), Airto and numerous other Latin artists.

Miles was a member of the house band for the American Blues Legends tours in the 1970s and a member of Jo Ann Kelly’s Band. He led the Radical Sheiks, fronted by harmonica player Alan Glen (Yardbirds, Little Axe and Dr Feelgood) and joined Taylor in the Daniel Smith Blues Band in 2005.