Paul Rutherford

An experimental, unpredictable player who also has a good sense of humor, trombonist Paul Rutherford's worked in many seminal free bands beginning in the '60s. He started on saxophone in the mid-'50s, then switched to trombone and played that instrument in Royal Air Force bands from 1958 to 1963. He met John Stevens and Trevor Watts in the RAF, and they co-formed the Spontaneous Music Ensemble in 1965. Rutherford studied days at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and played free sessions at night during the mid- and late '60s. He began working regularly with Mike Westbro...