Born in London in 1970 and educated at Cambridge, Patrick Neate is a DJ and music writer who has contributed to The Face, Mixmag, Sky and Q. He has taught in Zimbabwe and travelled extensively in Africa. His first novel, Musungu Jim and the Great Chief Tuloko, has just appeared in paperback. This extract is taken from Twelve Bar Blues, published this month by Viking at £9.99 in the UK.