He came to prominence in the 1950s, subsequently playing with many of the on the British jazz scene of that decade, notably Joe Harriott, Dizzy Reece, Tony Crombie, and Tubby Hayes. In 1954, he was in the Tony Crombie Orchestra, together with Dizzy Reece, Les Condon (trumpet), Joe Temperley, Sammy Walker (tenor saxs), Lennie Dawes (baritone sax), and Ashley Kozak (bass). After returning from a 9-month stint in Calcutta, India, with the Ashley Kozak Quartet, he spent four years with the Dick Morrissey Quartet, where he both wrote and arranged material for their subsequent four albums.