IT is no surprise to hear that Jools Holland's earliest memory is listening to his uncle playing boogie woogie on the piano. By the age of eight, he could play fluently by ear and was performing in East End pubs by the time he hit his early teens.

Today, Jools Holland, OBE, is the undisputed king of boogie woogie, playing to audiences of more than 500,000 each year with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, and with a multi-million selling recording career that has seen him work with the likes of (deep breath) Sting, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bono, Joe Strummer, KT Tunstall, Robert Plant, Smokey Robinson, Sugababes and Ringo Starr. To name just a few.

Ever the diplomat, he won't pick a favourite.

"It would be too hard to choose one – it would be like choosing your favourite child. I really enjoy working with whichever artist we are working with that day as it is always great to work with new musicians as well working with people we have worked with for many years."

So is there anyone the Later... presenter would still like to perform with?

"There are still lots of people I would like to work with," he says. "But I would have loved to have played with the late Dinah Washington or Bessie Smith. Unfortunately it's too late now."

His proudest musical achievements, he says, are when other artists sing his songs.

"Such as Shane MacGowan – I never ever dreamed that Shane MacGowan would sing one of my songs.

"Also one of my proudest moments was writing the track What Goes Around with Sam Brown, performed by Dionne Warwick."

Jools and his orchestra come to De Montfort Hall for two nights next week, with Ruby Turner, Rico Rodriguez and Louise Marshall, the stars of his last album, The Informer, appearing as special guests.

Although he's been doing it for years, he says he never gets tired of playing live.

"It is fantastic when the crowd join in, they start swaying and dancing and we are all communicating through the music," he says. "When you look out and you see the peoples' faces enjoying themselves, you can see how it affects people.

"And it feels great – because they feel the same way that I feel about the music. There is such an amazing physical, personal affect to it. It is just magic."

Info

Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra play at De Montfort Hall on Wednesday, November 25, and Thursday, November 26. Tickets are £31.50.

Call 0116 233 3111 or visit the De Montfort Hall website.