Prince Sampson is one of those unsung heroes that do all the work for other artists but get none of the credit - well no more.

The Furzedown resident, who played in the Pasadenas band and co-wrote two very successful Des'ree albums, released his first solo offering on Monday, more than a decade since he first started work on it.

Already Jazz FM have picked up on Living in the Moment and added it to their playlist and it is just reward for an artist who has basically had to do the whole thing by myself.

"I was doing two Des'ree records, I Ain't Moving and Supernatural at the same time I started writing this," says the 49-year-old.

"This record was the thing I would keep coming back to all the time but it is good to finally have it out there.

"I am signed to Sony Music to write songs for other people but then they would be sending artists around that were sub-standard singers.

"One guy came around to my studio in my house and we sat down, took one look at each other and started laughing.

"We had absolutely nothing in common.

"After that I thought the place I needed to be was concentrating on my own work.

"Engineers came round to fix the album but they wouldn't make it sound the way it sounded in my head.

"It's similar to having an image in your mind of what you look like but then you see a photograph and it looks completely different.

"It was the same with my music so I ended up doing the engineers job myself too."

Sampson, who was born in Battersea before moving to his parents' native Guyana in South America and then coming back to Wandsworth, describes his music as smooth jazz.

Having written and produced all the songs he plays guitars on the tracks but rarely sings, preferring to get guest artists to work alongside him, such as saxophonist Snake Davis, singer Noel McKoy and his daughter Chimaine, who provides the vocals for Let The Sun Shine Through.

"I think I have won just by doing it, I don't measure success with money," he says when I ask what his success were for the record.

"Some people start things but never finish them but I have and in that sense I think I have already won."

Living in The Moment is available on iTunes and Amazon. See princesampson.com.