Gérard Depardieu | Gerard Butler | Gerard Manley Hopkins | Gerard K. O'Neill | Gérard Philipe | Gerard Malanga | Gérard Caussé | Jean-Claude Gérard | Gérard Souzay | Gérard de Nerval | Gus Gerard | Gerard Schwarz | Gérard Jugnot | Gerard Henderson | Gerard Byrne | Gerard Neesham | Gerard McManus | Gerard McCarthy | Gerard Leachman | Gérard Lauzier | Gerard Kuiper | Gerard Hoffnung | Adam Gerard Mappa | Gerard Way | Gerard van Honthorst | Gérard Prunier | Gérard Presgurvic | Gerard of Florennes | Gérard Leman | Gerard Langbaine |
He has led his own ensembles since the late 1980s; in these combos he has played with Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Guy Barker, Jamie Talbot, Mark Nightingale, Dave O'Higgins, Nigel Hitchcock, Gerard Presencer, Mornington Lockett, Jean Toussaint, Simon Allen, Zoe Rahman and Alan Barnes.
He has worked with Annie Whitehead, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, Tim Whitehead, Chris Laurence, Eddie Parker, Peter Erskine, Vince Mendoza, Mark Lockheart, Julian Argüelles, Iain Ballamy's Acme, Mark Lockheart Quartet, Andy Sheppard, Gerard Presencer, Colin Towns, Martin Speake Quintet, and Jazz singer Stacey Kent among others.
Downes plays regularly with his own trio, Stan Sulzmann, Troyka, The Golden Age of Steam, Sam Crockatt and Clark Tracey - and has played with Joe Locke, Gilad Atzmon, Empirical, Gerard Presencer, Seb Rochford, Iain Ballamy, Sarah Gillespie, Peter Ind, Gwyneth Herbert, John Warren and Eugene Skeef.