Bill Ashton was not unduly troubled by self-doubt and held strong opinions on many subjects. In particular he hated the hoops that Arts Council England made him jump through to obtain infinitesimal funding for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, compared to the huge sums that routinely go to opera.
When a leading jazz luminary observed to him that opera would be all right if it weren’t for the singing, Bill responded: “You mean you can put up with the ludicrous plots, the pantomime scenery and the ham acting?”
Naturally expressing such views did not make him popular at ACE, and did not ease the path of his funding applications.
