Sound engineer John R.T. Davies was among the world's premier specialists in restoring and remastering classic jazz recordings. John Ross Twiston Davies was born March 20, 1927 in Sussex, England -- the son of a dermatologist, he began playing piano at the age of four, later studying the drums as well. Between 1945 and 1948 he served with the Royal Signals, and while stationed in Austria he began playing guitar; upon returning to the U.K., Davies also picked up the banjo, playing in Gerry Mulligan and George Melly's band. He next picked up the trombone, teaming with tuba-playing brother Julian and cornetist Ken Colyer in 1949 to form the revivalist combo the Crane River Jazz Band; credited with almost single-handedly launching Britain's trad jazz boom, the group resurrected classic New Orleans-style material from the likes of Bunk Johnson and George Lewis, playing together in one capacity or another for 40 years.