A column dedicated to the original thinkers and mavericks. Talent? Some people can't settle with just one. Meet Pat Crumly – illustrious jazz saxophonist, photographer and environmental philanthropist.

SJP: What set you on the path of becoming a jazz musician?
PC: Hearing jazz and dance band music on the radio as a small child and then having (and hearing) a cousin who played clarinet and saxophone. These experiences obviously revealed the musician in me which later manifested when I got my first instrument and began to try to play. Initially classical clarinet at school but by then I was already entranced by the sound of jazz music.

SJP: Where did you get the inspirations to compose your sound?
PC: I have listened to all the great jazz musicians and singers and they have all had some influence on me. Particularly singers in the early days – Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan, Mark Murphy, Frank Sinatra, etc. I learned how to listen and many of them became (and still are) aural reference points. From this process my own voice emerged, but with aspects of those influences present. Because I continue to listen, I guess my sound will continue to absorb new influences.

SJP: You are also a great photographer. Do you find any relationship between music and photography?
PC: In the creative process there is the seeking and the capturing of the moment. The difference between jazz and photography is that with the camera you can freeze that moment for future reference and enjoyment. But with music, unless you record every performance, the moment/s only remain briefly in the listeners' ears and memories.

SJP: You have had an illustrious career and played with other jazz greats. Most memorable gigs?
PC: I have had a lot of fun and many memorable experiences since I began playing publicly as a teenager and then during a thirty year professional career. I have had the opportunity to travel to many places and to experience first-hand working in such situations as South Africa under apartheid, Eastern Europe and Cuba under Communist rule (pre 1989).

I probably had the most fun during a world tour in 1983 to 1984 travelling all over the USA and Canada and on to Hawaii and Japan and then all over Europe. Most memorable gigs must include playing on the same bill as the Police in Florida in a couple of stadiums to 70,000 people, and performing to a very tearful staff and audience at Ronnie Scott's in December 1996 on the day that Ronnie died.... Many more moments but I guess I had better write a book!

SJP: Tell us about your continuing support of Water Aid and your work for peace.
PC: I have been very aware of and concerned about global humanitarian and environmental issues for many years, (this prompted me to record an album in 1984, Third World Sketches) and over a period of time I have tried to support such issues as deforestation, energy waste, and for some years now the issue of world water shortage, and the effects of that in the third world.

Water Aid does great work in Africa and Asia in providing the sort of facilities that we take for granted in the 'West ' I often quote the statistic "1.6 billion people on the planet have no fresh water or sanitation". I have come to respect the fact that water is a precious commodity which, despite the way we in the West squander it. The apparently limitless supplies of bottled water in supermarkets, is, for those people in the statistic quoted above, a priceless necessity which can determine whether people live or die.

As a member of Soka Gakkai International (lay Buddhist organisation) I chant for world peace on a daily basis (see www.sgi.org) and believe absolutely in the power of dialogue and that the human race has finally reached the point where war must never be an option. Respect for each other and for all life and for the environment is crucial for our survival on this planet.

SJP: Picasso says,"Art washes the dust of life from the soul". Do you believe that music can heal?
PC: I believe that the power of music is underestimated. It can heal, stimulate and inspire. It is therapeutic in helping autistic children and people with speech impediments. My experience, especially in recent years is that when music is offered in such a way (joyful and sincere) that it is truly shared with an audience, then this 'heals' and unites everyone in that particular moment. It can be a great experience especially for people who have never been to a 'live' gig before.

SJP: I have been listening to your album, Weaver of Dreams, and I could connect to it easily even though I'm not a jazz expert. An advice to jazz dummy like me - how does one listen to jazz?
PC: There is a book available called 'Listening to Jazz' by Jerry Coker, but in simple terms it's about listening with an open mind and then, if you have any questions ask someone like me! You don't have to understand everything to appreciate it, but one tip is to listen to a track several times, each time just concentrating on what one particular instrument is doing. Jazz is a small word which describes a very broad range of music. There are many styles so you will like some more than others. I can give you a listening list if you like.

www.patcrumly.co.uk
Pat Crumly's Photography
www.wateraid.org
Weaver of Dreams album is available from iTunes Store