As DJ, producer, percussionist and band leader (The Latin Seeds), Snowboy has been an advocate of Afro-Cuban Jazz for several decades. After initially being drawn to the Teddy Boy rock scene and becoming disillusioned with the continued violence he saw surrounding it, he was introduced to jazz and black music by an old friend.

He began as a DJ in the 1970s, also learning percussion, he found a natural home on the Acid Jazz label in the late 1980s. As a DJ he also ran the Hi-Hat Jazz-Dance Club at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town, London. After a wrist injury, he released his 12th album in 2004 appropriately entitled, New Beginnings.

Generally considered to be one of UK's finest congueros (congo players) and one of the most knowledgeable jazz dance DJs worldwide, he also wrote the book From Jazz Funk & Fusion To Acid Jazz: The History Of The UK Jazz Dance Scene (2009), and is involved in the regular Southend Jazz Festival.

He is the brother of Paul Cotgrove, film director and director of both the Southend Film Festival and Horror On Sea film festivals.