Singer Cleveland Watkiss has been a powerful presence on the British jazz scene for the last two decades – an original member of the Jazz Warriors and renowned for his versatility and vocal range, his career has spanned work with drum’n’bass icon Goldie, opera with Julian Joseph and session work with Stevie Wonder, Björk and Bob Dylan among many others.
In 1993 the sound of Gerard Presencer’s trumpet was everywhere thanks to the huge international success of Us3’s hit single ‘Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)’: he helped bring the Blue Note sound to a new mass audience and jump-started his career in a big way.
Hackney-born keyboardist Bill Laurance is a founding member, and only Brit, in genre-smashing fusioneers Snarky Puppy, who’ve risen from obscurity by playing over 1,000 gigs around the world and have just been nominated for another Grammy.
A singular force in the realm of spontaneously created music, Keith Jarrett has an unmatched body of work that straddles both jazz and classical worlds.
Rhythm has always underscored saxophonist Steve Coleman’s 30-year recording career.
1) Kamasi Washington The Epic Brainfeeder Kamasi Washington (ts), Thundercat, Miles Mosley (b), Ronald Bruner Jr, Tony Austin, (d) Patrice Quinn (v), Ryan Porter (tb), Brandon Coleman and Cameron Graves (p, kys) plus strings.
Jack McDuff among others dubbed Larry Young ‘the Coltrane of the Hammond organ’ – and he remains one of the all-time heavyweight players of this majestic instrument – expanding its language from his roots in Bartók and the blues, to McCoy Tyner, Trane and blazing jazz-rock.
One of Britain’s foremost Hammond heroes, Brian Auger’s career began in swinging 1960s London when he was asked to dep for an indisposed Georgie Fame.
Heavy riffing jazz-prog monoliths Elephant9 have just released Silver Mountain, arguably their finest recording yet.
Singer Gerogia Mancio has climbed musical mountains in the last five years, curating and organising the annual ReVoice! vocal festival as well as forging a solo career of increasing distinction and character.
