Said of Barbara:

"If you are enthralled by the sound of one of Barbara Thompson’s songs or albums, you will not be disappointed by any other of her songs or albums. In terms of personal discretion, sovereign technique and artistic infallibility Barbara Thompson has set a standard that only she can live up to."

Taken from a recent review of 'Chapter and Verse - The Best of Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia'

I had yet to find my own identity. A lot of jazz musicians wanted to play standards, and often gave me a hard time when I wanted to perform my own compositions. One day, in the early 70’s, I came across an album that Jon had made with Peter Lemer, performing Peter’s compositions featuring incredible players such as John Sermon. I was really impressed with the freshness and originality of the recording, and immediately contacted Peter and went round to see him. For a time we worked together and his wife Pepe joined us on vocals, with Steve Cook on bass guitar, and a succession of drummers, but the time was not yet right for a permanent musical relationship, I had yet to find myself with my own musicians rather than working in someone else’s environment, and Peter had his own paths to follow.

It was going to be 12 years later, that we finally joined forces and formed the Paraphernalia of today. In the meantime I met up with pianist Colin Dudman, who made a fantastic contribution to the music, and for the first time I had someone understanding and interpreting my music in the right way. Harold Fisher joined on drums and Roy Babington on bass guitar. From then on the band began to take off…. audiences feel instinctively when things are right. We were getting incredible crowds. Harold had to leave unfortunately, as he couldn’t leave his family for long periods, and he was getting into the session scene. Gary Husband, aged 17 at that time, came and filled in, and what a star he was. A year later, Jon joined Paraphernalia.