NOT many people can say they are one of Jools Holland’s favourite piano players of all time.

Then again, not many of us can say that we, along with our children, have played with the Rolling Stones.

Ben Waters is the unassuming musician – whom you could easily walk straight past on a Weymouth street – who can make these claims.

The proud family man’s son Tom, 13, started playing the saxophone when he was eight, recorded with the Rolling Stones when he was just 10 and recently featured on Ronnie Wood’s new album. Ben’s daughter Molly, 12, also plays in his band.

The list of musicians Ben has worked with reads like a who’s who in the rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame.

But what he is really keen to shout about is a gig in his hometown, which will raise thousands of pounds for local charities.

These charities include Dawlish-based pancreatic cancer charity Pan Pals, Chesil Sailability, Friends of Puddletown Library and bowel cancer charity Duck and Drakes.

Schools, including Broadmayne and Puddletown schools, will also benefit.

He said: “We’re helping 17 different charities and if they sell all of their tickets they’ll get £1,000 each.

“I want this to become an annual thing if we can do it in a sustainable way.

“I’ll be performing alongside my six-piece band. There’ll be a band called Replay playing too and we’ll have just come back from Stuttgart where I’ll have been performing the night before with Jools Holland, who is a very kind man and said he’d do the gig.

“That’s also a charity gig for a charity called Clowns with Hearts.”

Sadly, former Squeeze musician Jools won’t be playing at Weymouth, but it’s hoped there’ll be a special recorded message from him for the Weymouth audience.

Bizarrely enough, Ben has 80s pop wonder Shakin’ Stevens to thank for his success!

“I gave up college to go on tour with Shakin’ Stevens when I was 18,” he said.

“I was performing in the Dolphin pub in Park Street in Weymouth and had a phone call from Shakin’ Stevens and he took me to an audition and it went from there. My first concert was at a glam rock concert with Slade and Suzie Quattro playing to 50,000 people in Denmark.

“I took over playing for Shakin’ Stevens from Chris Holland, Jools’ brother.

“That’s how I became friends with Jools. He’s a really good piano player. He has a very disarming way about him and once you go to meet him you end up talking for ages about your favourite music.

“He’s so successful because he’s got a real passion for music.”

Ben has performed at a long list of prestigious venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Lincoln Centre and on Broad-way in New York.

Ben lives on the outskirts of Weymouth and says he couldn’t see himself living anywhere other than Dorset.

His wife Ruth, who hails from Rotherham, has also fallen in love with the county.

Ben said: “I’ve been lucky enough to go to a lot of beautiful places but when I get home to Dorset there’s nowhere I’d rather be.

“On a nice sunny day you can see the rolling hills and there are beautiful views all the way across to Portland.

“When I climb up the hill by my house I can see what seems like most of Dorset. I love autumn in the county, it’s a beautiful time of year to be here.”

Luckily the job offers are continuing apace so that Ben has those beautiful views to keep coming back to afresh.

“I recently played at Hugh Laurie’s 50th birthday party and at a charity golf match, I played in front of Ian Botham, James Nesbitt, Kenny Dalglish and Steve Redgrave.

“I never think of myself as famous. I just love music. I’ve worked with a few people who do get recognised but I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that.”

Ben thinks although boogie-woogie remains a niche genre, it has become more accessible.

“The world of boogie-woogie is a very small world. The people in it have so much love for it.

“When you meet someone who loves it as much as we do, it’s the equivalent of classic car fans getting together.

“It’s not like I planned to fall in love with that kind of music, it just happened.

“The fact that it’s not a very common type of music can hinder you. But I think more people are getting into boogie-woogie now because it’s more accessible.

“When I grew up in Upwey there were three record shops in town and we didn’t have YouTube and couldn’t look all these musicians up.”

Ben says even though he is constantly referred to as ‘a boogie-woogie musician’ a lot of people don’t know much about the genre.

“People are surprised by how energetic it is, it’s a form of rock ‘n’ roll.

“It’s the basics of a lot of music like the Kaiser Chiefs, Royal Blood are doing it, it’s rock ‘n’ roll.

“The basic structure of Roll With It by Oasis is boogie woogie.”

Besides gigging all over the world, Ben also moonlights as a travel agent and has set up rocknrollholidays.com Fans of the Ben Waters Band are invited to join them for gigs and activities all over the world – with a Christmas Markets trip coming up at the end of this year.

“I only go to places I know. I was there at Mettmann one year and it was like a movie with all the snow falling down.

He is also planning a big party for New Year’s Eve at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

Ben says not a day goes by when he doesn’t feel the urge to play the piano.

“I love playing. If I don’t play all the time I get restless.

“I’m so lucky I’ve got a job that happens to be my hobby.”

  • Ben Waters and his Band are playing at Weymouth Pavilion on Saturday, October 25. Tickets cost £20 each and are available from weymouthpavilion.com or by calling 01305 783225. Tickets are also available for a champagne reception before the show.