Ashley Slater

Ashley Slater
Born	1961 Schefferville, Quebec, Canada
Origin	Hanford, California, US
Genres	Electronica
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, trombonist
Instruments	Trombone
Associated acts	Loose Tubes, Freak Power, Norman Cook

Ashley Slater is a Canadian-born American trombone player and best known for his work with Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) in the band Freak Power.

Slater was born in Schefferville, Canada in 1961. At the age of about 6 months, he moved with his parents to Hanford, California.

In 1977, Slater moved to Edinburgh, Scotland on his own, and there joined the regimental band of the 1st battalion the Royal Scots as a bass trombonist. He also got his first taste of minor stardom whilst standing in for the lead singer of Northern Irish R&B band Otis and the Elevators.

In 1983 after leaving the army, he attended the National Centre for Orchestral Studies, after which he joined the jazz orchestral collective Loose Tubes. Over the next few years he was the bass and tenor trombonist of choice for the likes of George Russell, Carla Bley, Andrew Poppy, El Sonido de Londres, Billy Jenkins, Django Bates and Andy Sheppard. During this time he also worked as a session musician recording and arranging for The The, The Style Council, Fairground Attraction, Julia Fordham and the Rolling Stones.

After a gig at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London with Loose Tubes, Slater was approached by Rob Partridge, the then head of the Antilles Label on Island Records. At this time Slater and a fellow loose tuber, John Eacott had also been singing and writing songs for their funk band project called Microgroove. Their USP was an electric tuba played by Oren Marshall. They released one album called The Human Groove in 1988.

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