Leon Nock

Born and raised in Manchester, Leon Nock was exposed from the cradle to a thriving jazz scene both domestic and foreign: Count Basie, JATP, the MJQ and Dave Brubeck appeared annually supplemented by one-offs in a full spectrum of styles from Preservation Hall to Eddie Condon, George Lewis, Kid Ory, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan etc. Took a degree (B.A. Hons) in American Studies entailing an academic year in US within easy reach of Blues Alley. He moved to London in the late 60s with the specific aim of finding employment in the film industry. He was successful and became a member (Writers Section) of A.C.C.T. (now BECTU following merge with N.A.T.K.E). He began writing songs (lyrics) and shows (bok/lyrics) with Billy VerPlanck (music) in the late 1990s, joining ASCAP in 2000. Nine of his songs with Billy were recorded by Marlene VerPlanck on Audiophile. He has also written short stories, novels, plays and journalism since early 1970s. His hobbies are literature, theatre and cinema (especially French). He tries to get to Paris at least three times annually to gorge on French movies.