Jazz breaking news: Mark McKnight New Album and Tour
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Guitarist Mark McKnight releases his Organ Quartet’s first album, Do or Die, on Monday 26 September which will be backed up by a nationwide tour.
Alongside the guitarist the new record features saxophonist Seamus Blake, organist Ross Stanley and drummer James Madden, who will play the launch gig at Ronnie Scott’s on Thursday 29 September.
McKnight’s profile as a significant figure on the European jazz scene has been steadily rising over recent years. He has appeared at major jazz festivals including London and Montreux, and won the Best Young Irish Musician Award at the Cork Jazz Festival. He has also been chosen to represent Ireland in the 12 Points Festival (Norway) and the UK in the European Jazz Orchestra.
Since the release of his debut album, Overnight, in 2009, McKnight has focused on developing this UK-based organ band who have been met with critical acclaim when touring. Blake, who has worked with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and is a long-standing member of the Mingus Big Band, joined the group for its 2010 tour, which took the musicians to sell out performances at the Belfast Festival and the Cork Jazz Festival. McKnight has described the band as ‘the perfect combination of musicians’, and the energetic album reinforces the guitarist’s improvisation and composition skills as well as the musicians’ considerable empathy, reminding us that he is certainly one to watch.
The September tour begins in Bristol (venue TBA) on Sunday 18 September and the rest is as follows: The 606 Club, London (19th), Dempsey’s, Cardiff (20th), The Griffin, Glasgow (21st), Seven Arts, Leeds (22nd), Millennium Hall, Polish Centre, Sheffield (23rd), The Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre, Dublin (24th), Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast (25th), The Blue Lamp, Aberdeen (26th), The Cluny, Newcastle (27th), Swansea Jazzland (28th), Ronnie Scott’s, London (29th), The Spice of Life, London (29th), Great Northern Hotel, Peterborough (30th).
- Louise Jones