I am delighted to be joined by Brass Musician and Arranger, Stewart Prosser on this 130th edition of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast for what was a hugely enjoyable chat.

Stewart is such a talent - a fabulous trumpet and flugelhorn player, and brass arranger, who played a key role in The Style Council's early years. He joined the band as an Honorary Councillor in 1984 for the Council Meeting Part 1 Tour, and stayed all the way up to the Wembley Showbiz gigs at the end of 1985.

Throughout his career, he has created music in a wide range of styles – jazz, classical, rock, pop and it was a delight to dig in to his memories. From his time as principal player of the Hampshire Youth Concert Band to the band Rye and The Quarter Boys and those special years with The Style Council.

He was a huge part of that live sound - together with Billy Chapman on sax and Chris Lawrence on trombone. Sadly Chris is no longer with us, but it was so nice to hear Stewart's memories of his friendship with Chris in out chat.

Stewart also played on studio recordings for the number one album Our Favourite Shop - performng trumpet on album opener Homebreakers and album closer Walls Come Tumbling Down, along with Flugelhorn on A Man of Great Promise. He also played trumpet on Big Boss Groove for the Groovin' single EP.

We also chat about his time touring with the band across the UK, Europe, Japan and Australia - friendships made, life on the road and how his live solo came about for Le Départ (see the video below!)

Stay tuned for a lovely exclusive on upcoming new music from Stewart and somebody else with a special connection to the band too!.

Plus we chat about his ongoing project Walk Upon England which was created with his friend, the composer Damian Montagu. Their first album, In A South Downs Way, created with their pal, the actor Hugh Bonneville, was released in 2016 and swiftly went to Number One on the Classical Album chart!

Listen out for a lovely story about a live performance of the album at a theatre in Chichester. It's a moment that tells so much about the magic of The Style Council experience.

Find out more in the show notes for this podcast on my website and if you want to support the podcast financially, you can buy me a virtual coffee at paulwellerfanpodcast.com/store

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