Tomorrow’s Warriors co-founder Dr Gary Crosby OBE kicks of 70th year celebrations with Gary Crosby’s Great Big 70th Birthday Jam
Mike Flynn
Friday, January 24, 2025
The leading bassist, jazz educator and mentor to countless stars of today’s UK jazz scene will begin a year of 70th birthday celebrations with a special night at the Jazz Cafe on 2 February
Pioneering talent development organisation and charity Tomorrow’s Warriors have announced that its Co-founder and Artistic Director Dr Gary Crosby OBE will begin celebrating his 70th birthday year with Gary Crosby’s Great Big 70th Birthday Jam on Sunday 2 February at Jazz Café, Camden at 12pm-3pm. Crosby’s 70th birthday is on 26 January.
The bassist, bandleader and music educator Gary Crosby, hailed by the BBC as “a towering figure in jazz” will celebrate his 70th year and over 50 years in Jazz with the Jazz Café event and a series of events throughout the year. On 2nd February, for one day only Gary will recreate one of his legendary Sunday afternoon Jazz Café jam sessions that he started 35 years ago, back in 1990. Gary has been on a mission to increase diversity and representation in the UK jazz scene, and back then the Jazz Café sessions ignited careers such as Gary’s own ensembles Nu Troop and Jazz Jamaica, as well as Denys Baptiste, Nathaniel Facey, Byron Wallen, Soweto Kinch, Jason Yarde, Shane Forbes, Zara McFarlane and ESKA among others. The sessions would go on to become the foundations on which Tomorrow's Warriors would be built, championing a whole new jazz generation and creating a seminal moment in UK Jazz history.
Through Tomorrow’s Warriors, Gary Crosby has nurtured nascent talent and built engaged, culturally diverse audiences, providing a crucial development platform for many of the artists now tearing up the international music scene – including 2023 Mercury Prize winners EZRA Collective, as well as Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Cassie Kinoshi, Binker Golding, Shabaka Hutchings and Sons of Kemet, Camilla George, CHERISE, Theon Cross, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Shirley Tetteh and many more.
The one-off Jazz Café event will see a mix of Warriors alumni, emerging artists, and current members of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Young Artist Development programme perform together at what will be an unmissable celebration.
Janine Irons OBE, Co-founder & CEO of Tomorrow’s Warriors said “While he might hate us for saying it, it's hard to overstate the impact that Gary Crosby has made on the UK jazz scene, not only as a hugely respected musician and bandleader, but perhaps most significantly through his incredible ability to recognise talent and inspire generation after generation of young jazz musicians to achieve their potential through Tomorrow’s Warriors. With a career lasting over half a century, he still can’t bear the title ‘Godfather of UK Jazz’ and that tells you the kind of person he is. For Gary it’s never about glory or credit, he truly loves what he does and it’s what he does best. The Jazz Café event is a great way to kick off his 70th year celebrations, to say not just ‘Happy Birthday Gary’, but a very big thank you too for your profound dedication! Without Gary, none of this would have been possible.”
Dr Gary Crosby OBE, Co-founder & Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors and Nu Civilisation Orchestra and Jazz Jamaica All Stars said “I can’t quite believe I have reached this milestone, what a journey it’s been. It feels like only yesterday when I started the Jazz Café sessions with the aim to create a platform for young jazz musicians not just to perform, but also to build new connections with other musicians. I grew up in West London on a council estate and through the support of my family, I saw how the power of education and music could help me extend my horizons, enable me to look at the world differently and see how it can be a positive force for good and bring about change. By reaching young people at a pivotal moment in their artistic journeys, it’s been wonderful to see so much excellence coming through Tomorrow’s Warriors these past 34 years. It will be like old times and I look forward to seeing my Tomorrow’s Warriors community and my contemporaries from the scene come through to celebrate with me at our spiritual home The Jazz Cafe.”
For more info visit thejazzcafe.com
