Clare Burt
Clare Burt is the lead alto player in the band, doubling up on the soprano sax. Big bands have been a part of her life since her schooldays and she loves playing and watching the dancers! Clare also plays in an Oxford-based sax quartet.
When not making music, she is disguised by a different name and is a Professor of Epidemiology and Research Design at the University of Oxford.
Clare likes to keep her options open, so her favourite band pieces are: Time After Time, Beyond the Sea and Moonlight Serenade. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps!!
Emily Naylor
Emily Naylor is the second tenor saxophone player for the Velvet Tones. She started playing the saxophone at 9 years old after hearing a live band play ‘Tequila’, and the rest is history. She has played throughout school, university and adult life and enjoyed performing at all sorts of events, including at the Royal Albert Hall, the Sage Gateshead, and even for a tune at her wedding (James Brown – I Feel Good..!).
After joining the VTs in 2022, she had a brief hiatus from the band to have her daughter, Eloise, who is now being inducted into jazz from a tender age.
Her favourite tune in the pad is Tequila, as that was where it all began!