Butch Thomas & Friends
Supporting Musicians

Michael Curtis Ruiz – Electric Bass
recipient of a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music has recorded and toured the World with numerous Caribbean and International artistes including Joe Higgs and Rita Marley. His reputation as an outstanding bass player is building rapidly in the UK, and he can be seen playing at various Jazz venues with other bands.  Michael played both Fretless and Fretted Electric basses

Felix Ruiz – Keyboards
The Ruiz brothers, from Trinidad, blend Caribbean and World Beat Music with influences of Jazz.  Keyboardist Felix, has performed with legendary Calypsonians the Roaring Lion, and others including Gregory Isaacs.
 

Special Guest - Pete Oxley

- Guitarist and Jazz Composer - Pete was initially captivated by the works of Egberto Gismonti, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock and John Scofield, influences which he would still cite as relevant today.  Pete was offered a place at the Leeds Jazz College in 1981. He accepted - somehow he managed to respectably graduate and moved to Paris to begin a glorious unfettered career.  It was in Paris that Pete began gigging intensely, backing singers, generally freelancing and working on his own musical projects.
In 1999, in partnership with drummer Mark Doffman and bassist Raph Mizraki, Pete set up Oxford's Contemporary Jazz club 'The Spin'. These three formed the house-band, with whom scores of the UK's jazz glitterati have now performed (Gilad Atzmon, Tim Whitehead, John Parricelli, Roger Beaujolais, Mornington Lockett, John Etheridge, Ben Castle, Mark Lockheart etc. etc...)  
In 2002, Pete recorded the duo album The Play Of Light with Argentinean guitar virtuoso Luis D'Agostino

Erik Stams 

Erik began playing drums at the age of ten.
After graduating from New York's Fiorello Laguardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts (FAME) under Justin Dicciocio, he studied drum-kit, percussion and general music at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, privately with Henry Adler (author of Buddy Rich's Snare Drum Rudiments and Louie Bellson's Modern Reading Text in 4/4), Walter Garces and briefly with Jerry Gonzalez (the Fort Apache Band).

Erik honed his craft performing, recording and touring in and around NYC, specializing in Funk, Reggae, Jazz, Ska and Rock. He can be heard on various albums, film soundtracks (Francis Ford Coppola's New York Stories, Dust on the Wings - Australia, The Inbetweeners) and television commercials.
Erik settled in London after a tour of Japan with Walter Schreifels of Quicksand and Rival Schools (Island Records) in 1996.

Since then he has been performing in and around the UK with American saxophonist Butch Thomas (Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Jaco Pastorius), disco-diva Viola Wills, Ensemble Bash, the Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani), as well as upcoming artists Drill Queen, Jamie Lawson and War Machines of Love (with former New Model Army guitarist Adrian Portas).