David Rees-Williams began his musical career as a chorister at New College Oxford, where the rich variety of musical styles performed by choir and organ made strong and lasting impressions. From here he won the top music scholarship to Cranleigh School where he studied piano, oboe and organ. He continued these studies at the Royal College of Music and graduated from there in 1981 with a B.Mus. Whilst still a student, he held posts as organist at two London churches. He has held various teaching positions which have included Cranleigh School in Surrey, and St. Edmund’s School, Canterbury. At present he teaches piano at The King’s School, Canterbury, and Christ Church University College, Canterbury.

He moved from London to Canterbury in 1985 to open a small music venue with three partners which became well known for its wide range of good music, both classical and jazz, and it was here that he formed his long standing association with Neil Francis and Phil Laslett, two fine musicians in their own right.

Neil Francis moved to Kent in 1980 and until 2002 enjoyed a dual career as schoolteacher and freelance bass guitarist. He now devotes his time entirely to his playing. His performance work has embraced disciplines as diverse as improvised trio jazz, blues, rock, studio sessions and, most recently, the classically inspired cross-over style featured by the David Rees-Williams Trio. Having spent his formative years listening to Baroque repertoire, particularly the keyboard works of Bach, Neil is inspired in developing a role for the electric bass guitar in areas where conventional acoustic instruments are the tradition. Until the end of 2002, he was Head of Music in a busy Kent secondary school where he composed, arranged and directed music in a range of educational contexts.

Phil Laslett was born in Kent where he still lives. He started playing the drums at the age of ten. His influences are diverse, from the exquisite brushwork of Joe Morello, famous for his many years with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, to the more up-front showmanship of the great Buddy Rich, and in more recent times, the styles of Art Blakey, Jack DeJohnette and Victor Lewis. Over the last three decades, Phil Laslett has built a solid reputation as a versatile player backing a variety of international artists in his own right, and also as part of the David Rees-Williams Trio. He has also led his own quartet specialising in modern jazz arrangements. Recent reviews of the Trio have complimented his playing for its subtlety and musicianship.

The David Rees-Williams Trio was formed in 1988 and features David Rees-Williams on Piano, Neil Francis on bass guitar and Phil Laslett on drums. Based in Canterbury, the trio has played with many notable musicians such as Tony Coe, Jim Mullen, Alan Skidmore, & Duncan Lamont. They have performed in an interesting variety of concerts and festivals over the years both in England and Spain, and now specialise in a programme that unites the best of classical and jazz. These last two years have been a particularly exciting time for them since David’s arrangement of Purcell’s “When I am laid in earth” from their CD “Classically Minded” was first played on Radio 3. As described by Sean Rafferty on whose programme “In Tune” they have played on several occasions, the response was “extraordinary”, resulting in the BBC being inundated with enquiries, and subsequently inviting them to record a commercial disc on their new “Late Junction” label.

“Hidden Colours” was released during the second half of May 2002 and features arrangements of Purcell, Bach, Grieg, Fauré, Franck, Debussy and Ravel. It has received excellent reviews in the Times and the Independent on Sunday and shortly after its release, was Editor's Choice in HMV Choice Magazine. It was then to become No.2 of HMV's 10 best Classical discs of 2002. It was also rated best of its genre by the Financial Times in its end of year disc review on world music of 2002. The trio has now been invited by the BBC to record a second disc for the Late Junction label to be released later this year.

Past performances for the Trio have included such diverse venues as a Costa Brava festival in Spain, the Dungeon at Windsor Castle, St David’s Cathedral Festival, Goodwood House (Chichester Festival), Penshurst Place, Tunbridge Wells, a three night run at The Pizza Express Jazz Club Dean Street, The Pizza Express Music room, Maidstone and The Gulbenkien Theatre, Canterbury as part of the “Sounds New” festival of 2003. For the BBC, their performances have included The BBC World showcase week at The Grand, Brighton, at The Queen’s award for BBC Worldwide and live performances on the “In Tune” Christmas Special from the Radio Theatre and also from The Bath Festival.

The Trio's own website is at www.davidrees-williams.com