A young jazz pianist from Carnon Downs is now living his dream and rubbing shoulders with some of the top musicians and producers in the world.

Former Truro School student Alfie Hole has been lucky enough to travel the world, performing at some of the most prestigious jazz festivals in Europe as well as New York's oldest rock club where Bob Dylan made his name.

The 23-year-old has also been working for the keyboardist of the Rolling Stones, Chuck Leavell, for the last three years, since moving to New York to study in 2014, and occasionally play sessions alongside Clive Deamer from Radiohead.

Recently he has been spending time with Taylor Swift’s musical director, David Cook, learning about the production that goes on behind her music.

Alfie told the Packet: “When I first moved to New York I spent every night hanging out at Smalls jazz club, a tiny basement club in Greenwich Village. They have amazing jazz musicians playing shows up until 1am and then hold a jam session every night until 4am - it’s a tiny, dark, cramped club where all the famous jazz musicians gravitate towards after they finish their shows across the city.

“Every night in the early hours of the morning I would get to hang out with my idols, who I’d grown up listening to, and play music with them on the cramped stage.”

As a result he was able to take lessons from old school jazz greats, including Randy Weston, Eddie Gomez and Billy Harper to famous modern jazz musicians including Blue Note recording artists Aaron Parks and Robert Glasper.

Since Alfie was last featured in the Packet four years ago, when he won a place to the prestigious New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, he has been working for one of his favourite modern jazz pianists, Aaron Goldberg, transcribing his original material by ear to sheet music.

Alfie added: "It's a dream come true to now be hanging out and working with these people I idolised growing up.

"When I first went to New York at 17, I caught a show of Aaron Goldberg's at Dizzy's Coca Cola club - I grew up listening to his music so seeing him live was really something. Now it seems crazy that I get to take lessons from him on his piano at his apartment in Brooklyn.

"I would never have thought that I now get to work with the handwritten originals of the music that I grew up listening to."

He was also recently employed by jazz all-stars Tom Harrell, Leon Parker, Aaron Goldberg and Reuben Rogers, to help make arrangements for their upcoming album.

He recently spent six months living in South Korea, co-writing an album to be released over there.

Alfie has not forgotten his Cornish roots, however, and every Christmas he returns to perform at Rick Stein’s restaurant in Padstow. Having initially been booked to play at its 40th anniversary party in 2015, he has performed every Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve since.