Teachers can recommend jazz repertoire books, jazz courses and jazz exams: but how does the classically-trained pupil learn to improvise?   Frank Griffith offers some advice.

Trying to get some jazz gigs?   Brian Benton is the guru at Herts Jazz who, in his spare time, also plays a mean tenor.   Eschewing the image of a camel-coated, cigar-chomping padrone, his article gives the jazz promoter's perspective and some background and practical advice to tyros searching for some exposure.

In addition to the professional problems of being a musician, there are occasionally associated medical conditions.   The effects of back pressure in blowing an oboe, hanging a bari around your neck, pre-performance stress, thoracic outlet syndrome, focal dystonia, tendinitis and, on a lighter note, the threat of a reflex right hand, when kissing a horn player.   To sufferers, however, it is no joke and Caroline Rugman discusses the particular problem of repetitive strain injury (RSI)