2015 Parliamentary Jazz Awards

Sponsored by PPL

NOMINEES

Jazz Vocalist of the Year

Alice Zawadzki Vocalist, violinist, and composer, Alice Zawadzki is a distinctive and individual presence on the creative music scene, with influences ranging from her early exposure to New Orleans soul and gospel, a classical training, and an exploration of world and improvised music, with storytelling always at the heart of her performances. Her debut album China Lane was released in 2014 to great critical acclaim, with MOJO magazine describing her as 'something of a phenomenon' and The Guardian as 'a genuine original'. Alice's journey into jazz began at the age of 12 when she first heard New Orleans vocalist Lillian Boutté, who was later to become her mentor. She later studied violin at the Royal Northern College of Music, and jazz singing and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. She maintains a busy and happy schedule of music making with some of the Europe’s brightest creative artists, and is based in London. http://alicezmusic.com/ https://twitter.com/AliceZawadzki

Alicez Zawadzki Credit Alex Bonney

Georgia Mancio Award-winning jazz vocalist/lyricist, Georgia Mancio, has proved herself one of the UK’s most original, adventurous and multi-faceted new artists. A true improviser with a boundless and bold imagination, Georgia produces music of beauty, bite and unfailing integrity, embracing a wide-ranging jazz repertoire alongside influences from her Anglo/Italian/Uruguayan heritage. As a lyricist her work has been approved by Pat Metheny and two-time Grammy award-winning jazz pianist and composer, Alan Broadbent, with whom she has begun song writing and performing partnership. Georgia has also worked with Bobby McFerrin, Sheila Jordan, Ian Shaw, Liane Carroll, Jason Rebello, Gwilym Simcock and Bobby Wellins among many others; opened for Monty Alexander, Jon Hendricks, Cedar Walton and Milton Nascimento at Ronnie Scott's; produced 4 albums; completed 5 national tours and since 2010 has directed her own international voice festival - ReVoice! – in association with the Pizza Express Jazz Club. http://www.georgiamancio.com/ https://twitter.com/GeorgiaMancio

Georgia Mancio Credit Lara Leigh

Zara McFarlane MOBO Award winning Zara McFarlane is a rising star of the international jazz scene. Since the release of her second album 'If You Knew Her' on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings in January 2014 she has gone from strength to strength with appearances on Later With Jools Holland and Spanish, French, Dutch and South African national TV. Her inimitable style of soulful jazz has been charming festival and club audiences across the UK, Europe and the US. She has been described as possessing ‘magnetic eloquence and complete ease with an audience’ (The Guardian) as well as being ‘serene, post-folk, post-soul, mystical’ (New York Times). Her music has been remixed by the crème de la crème of leftfield worldwide producers including Osunlade, Swindle and Atjazz. http://www.zaramcfarlane.com/ https://twitter.com/zaramcfarlane

Zara McFarlane

Norma Winstone MBE Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scott’s club with Roland Kirk. Although she began her career singing jazz standards, she became involved in the Avant Garde movement, exploring the use of the voice in an experimental way and evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation. In 1971 she was voted top singer in the Melody Maker Jazz Poll and subsequently recorded her own album ‘Edge of Time‘for Decca. She has become known as a very fine lyricist, writing words to compositions by many contemporary composers including Steve Swallow’s ‘Ladies in Mercedes‘, which has become a standard. She has recorded many albums on the prestigious ECM label with the group Azimuth with John Taylor and the late Kenny Wheeler and in recent years, three with her European group, one of which was nominated for a Grammy in 2009. http://www.normawinstone.com/

Norma Winstone Credit Lisa Valder

Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year

Jason Yarde Composer, arranger, producer, musical director and saxophonist Jason Yarde writes music that has been described as powerful, spiritual, evocative, rhapsodic, hair-raising and formidable. Jason started his playing career with the Jazz Warriors at 16, and has performed in a wide variety of bands including work with Louis Moholo, Afro Blok, Mano Ventura and the big bands of Manu Dibango, Hermeto Pascoal, Sam Rivers, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Hugh Masekela and many others. His own bands include the multi-award-winning J-life and Acoustic Bombastic, and his prolific talents as composer, arranger and producer have led to projects with dance companies and classical orchestras such as the BBCCO and the LSO. http://www.joyandears.com/index.htm www.JoYaNdEaRs.com www.MyDuoMusic.com

Jason Yarde

Laura Jurd Laura Jurd is a London based trumpet player, composer and improviser. A diverse musician, she plays and writes a wide variety of music, drawing upon classical, jazz and folk influences. An active member of the UK jazz and improvisation scene Laura's ensembles have performed at some of the country's most prestigious venues as well as performing in many UK festivals. Laura is an extremely active composer, writing a diverse range of music for a variety of ensembles. She was awarded the 2011 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition and has written for the likes of the Chaos Orchestra, Mark Lockheart, Saxaphonquadrat Berlin, the Ligeti Quartet as well as many other ensembles and musicians. http://www.laurajurd.com/ https://twitter.com/laurajurd

Laura Jurd

Phil Robson Phil Robson grew up in Derby in the East Midlands, UK. He became interested in rock music and took up the guitar at the age of 10. He attended Derby’s ‘Wilmorton College of Further Education’ between 1986- 88. Although still continuing to develop & play gigs, that period was as much about investigating other aspects of life, but then, at the age 18, he moved to London to attend The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, being the youngest person to ever do the post-grad jazz course at the time. Phil Robson is internationally regarded as a highly versatile and creative player who appears in all kinds of diverse settings, as well as being a being a renowned bandleader & composer. He’s played with a diverse cross section artists such as Barbra Streisand, Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, David Liebman, Dame Cleo Laine, Maceo Parker, Charles Earland to name just a few for now. http://philrobson.net/ https://twitter.com/PhilRobsonMusic

Phil Robson

Credit Bob Barkany

Jazz Album of the Year

‘Swamp’ – Partisans Partisans are co-led by two of the pre-eminent musicians of their generation, Phil Robson (guitar) and Julian Siegel (tenor sax & bass clarinet). The quartet's line-up is completed by Thaddeus Kelly (bass) and Gene Calderazzo (drums). The richly lyrical and strongly melodic compositions written by the leaders provide the framework and starting point, underpinned by the rock solid, freewheeling and supercharged rhythm section. Their critically acclaimed new album 'Swamp', released in September 2014 on Whirlwind Records pumps their groove-based sound with viscous voodoo, Hi-Life romps, burning post-bop, no messin rock outs, spacious reflections and heavy hooks. http://www.partisans.org.uk/index.html https://twitter.com/partisansjazz

Swamp - The Partisans

‘Circularity’ – Julian Argüelles His 11th and most recent CD 'Circularity' features John Taylor (piano), Dave Holland (bass) and Martin France and is released on the Italian Label Camjazz. Born near Birmingham, UK in 1966, Julian moved to London at the age of 18 where he gained recognition as a creative and original musician. At 20 he joined the much acclaimed band Loose Tubes. As a bandleader, saxophonist, composer and arranger he has toured and recorded throughout the world with leading musicians such as Dave Holland, Django Bates, John Scoffield, Kenny Wheeler, Hermeto Pascoal, John Abercrombie, and Bill Frisell and his CDs have won many awards. Julian is hugely influential to a new generation of British jazz musicians. http://www.julianarguelles.com/home https://twitter.com/JulArgJazz @TheDaveHolland

Circularity - Jullien Arguelles

‘Songs to the North Sky’ – Tim Garland Tim Garland is one of the most versatile musicians in the UK. Tim Garland’s playing and composition have less reflected ‘influences’ than styles he has deeply assimilated, from folk, fusion, classical and mainstream jazz. As a composer, he uses his native eclecticism and phenomenal technique to make telling and often surprising connections; as a bandleader, he creates spaces in which other musicians will surprise themselves. ‘Songs to the North Sky’ unites these two strands of his career in one remarkable project. After two years in the making between much international touring and time away from the UK, Garland celebrates ten years of “Lighthouse Music” and a deserved place once again as band leader. http://store.editionrecords.com/album/songs-to-the-north-sky-2 https://twitter.com/TimGarlandMusic

Songs to the North Sky Tim Garland

Jazz Ensemble of the Year

Engines Orchestra The Engines Orchestra (eO) is London’s freshest cross-genre large ensemble. Combining some of the capitals most exciting young jazz and classical instrumentalists they are a community of musicians who come together to challenge conventions and push the boundaries of creative music making. As a large-scale platform for collaboration they work with other artists and aim to develop audiences and promote new music. 2014 was an incredible year for the eO, seeing them launch their debut project Lifecycles to a sold-out Kings Place as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. The performance was chosen by TimeOut as number 3 in their top 10 festival performances and received four stars from The Guardian alongside airplay on BBC Radio 2, Jazz on 3 and Jazz FM. On top of this they ran a successful educational programme for people of all ages and abilities including a commission for the LJF written by non-musicians and festival goers and an Easter jazz course for aspiring young musicians. As they continue to grow, 2015 is the year in which the Engines Orchestra bring you both their second large-scale collaboration and launch a regular concert series to showcase the smaller ensembles of its members. Their work developing the visions of other young artists will culminate in a growing catalogue on their Engines Imprint label and their work in education is set to see members of the orchestra travel beyond the UK.

https://twitter.com/enginesorch http://enginesorchestra.com/

Engines Orchestra

Loose Tubes Thirty years after it first blew into Europe’s jazz consciousness, Loose Tubes’ anarchic, freewheeling and uniquely exhilarating music still reverberates through the UK’s music scene. The 21 piece Jazz Orchestra's line-up reads like a veritable Who’s Who of this brilliant generation of musicians. From maverick keyboardist Django Bates, to saxophonists Julian Argüelles (Dave Holland, Carla Bley), Iain Ballamy (Food), Mark Lockheart (Polar Bear), trumpeter Chris Batchelor (Big Air), to irrepressible trombonist and charismatic MC Ashley Slater (Freak Power, Kitten and the Hip), its members have been at the heart of some of the UK’s most inspired music over the last three decades. In 2014 a BBC Radio 3 commission for new Works, catalysed Loose Tubes to take the stage again to celebrate their 30th anniversary with a series of sold-out concerts at Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival, and a triumphant return to their spiritual home, London's Ronnie Scott’s Club. https://www.facebook.com/loosetubes

Loose Tubes

Credit Allan Titmuss

Partisans Partisans have been thrilling audiences since its formation in 1996. They released their 5th album 'Swamp' to critical acclaim. Since their formation Partisans have been thrilling audiences with their ferociously energetic performances. Hailed as breaking the ground for the new wave of British jazz and described by BBC Radio Jazz on 3 as 'One of the most exciting all-star experimental groups in Jazz today' Partisans is co-led by two of the pre-eminent musicians of their generation, Phil Robson (guitar) and Julian Siegel (tenor sax & bass clarinet). The quartet's line-up is completed by Thaddeus Kelly (bass) and Gene Calderazzo (drums). http://www.partisans.org.uk/index.html https://twitter.com/partisansjazz

Partisans

Ensemble of the Year

Jazz Newcomer of the Year

Blue-Eyed Hawk Taking its name from a line in W.B. Yeats's poem Under the Moon, London-based band Blue-Eyed Hawk brings together four of the UK's most lauded young performer/composers: vocalist Lauren Kinsella, trumpeter Laura Jurd, guitarist Alex Roth and drummer Corrie Dick. Traversing art-rock, jazz, minimalist and electronic sound worlds, Blue-Eyed Hawk's debut album, titled after the same poem, and was released on Edition Records in 2014. Co-produced by Polar Bear's Tom Herbert, it has been hailed as "one of the most thoughtful and imaginative albums of the year" (musicOMH), while the band's open-eared approach to song-writing has been described as “gloriously original” (The Jazz Mann), “powerfully emotive” (All About Jazz) and “utterly distinctive” (London Jazz News). Following performances at the Royal Albert Hall (broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the BBC Proms), the Southbank Centre and the Barbican (both as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival) and dates in Stockholm, Dublin and Rotterdam, Blue-Eyed Hawk will soon be recording a set of new music based on the writing of Franz Kafka for broadcast on BBC Radio 3. http://www.blue-eyedhawk.com/ https://twitter.com/Blue_EyedHawk

Blue

Eyed Hawk

Elliot Galvin Trio Elliot Galvin is a London based Jazz pianist and composer. He graduated from Trinity Laban in 2013, winning the prestigious Gold Medal Competition, and has completed a Masters in Composition. He was also named as one of 2013’s Yamaha Jazz scholars, as well as being awarded the Worshipful Company of Musician’s Silver medal award. In 2014 the Elliot Galvin trio was awarded the Musician’s Benevolent Fund’s development award, and they have recently been announced as the winners of the 2014 European Young Jazz Artist of the Year Award in Germany, opening the Burghausen International Jazz Festival there. "Their Debut Album 'Dreamland' was released in March 2014 on the Chaos Collective label to rave reviews, with the Guardian calling it "Audaciously accomplished"."

https://twitter.com/ElliotGalvin http://www.elliotgalvintrio.com

Elliot Galvin Trio

Peter Edwards Peter Edwards is a pianist, composer and bandleader whose ‘guileless, soulful music is full of emphatic chording, Latin grooves and romantic, cinematic themes’ (Guardian). Peter graduated with a Masters in Jazz from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in 2009. Participation in the Tomorrows Warriors young artist development programme gave him the opportunity to sharpen his performance and compositional skills under the guidance of Gary Crosby OBE. He began recording and touring with the Abram Wilson Quartet and has gone on to work with Rhythmica, Nicola Emmanuelle and Zara McFarlane to name a few. His debut album 'Safe and Sound' has garnered much praise and was among MOJO's Top 10 jazz albums of 2014. http://www.peteredwardsmusic.co.uk/ https://soundcloud.com/thepeteredwardstrio/sets/safe-and-sound

Peter Edwards

Jazz Venue of the Year

Manchester Jazz Festival When putting together the very first festival back in late 1995, they really had no idea that the event would take off as it did and become the longest running music festival in Manchester, attracting approximately 60k visitors. 2015 sees the 20

th anniversary festival,

a home-grown celebration of the region’s vibrant music scene and unique personalities. Their special focus has always been on the North West’s contemporary jazz scene, encouraging musicians to create new music and moving the art form forward with innovative activity strands and collaborations. These are passions of theirs and have also been crucial in determining the character of the festival. http://www.manchesterjazz.com/ https://twitter.com/@ManJazzFest

Manchester Jazz Festival

Spice of Life Since 1998, Paul Pace has been promoting live jazz in its myriad of forms from traditional, swing, contemporary, funk and occasionally ‘improv’ at the Spice of Life pub in Soho. This intimate venue (capacity 100) has presented a huge variety of musical outfits from solo performers to 20-piece big bands! Alongside British jazz legends such as Jim Mullen, Mike Garrick, Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzmann, Tommy Whittle, Barbara Jay, Art Themen, Don Weller and Evan Parker, have been US visitors Seamus Blake, Jim Snidero, and Daryl Sherman - pianist Darius Brubeck playing his first London gigs at the Spice!. Jamie Cullum, Soweto Kinch, the Puppini Sisters, Joe Stilgoe and James Hunter played some of their early gigs there prior to their wider exposure. Tomorrows Warriors and Chaos Collective have held long-time residences nurturing original music helping to develop new audiences. A crowning moment was the visit by Wynton Marsalis in 2013. www.spicejazz.co.uk http://www.spiceoflifesoho.com

Spice of Life

(London Big City Band)

St Ives Jazz Club St Ives Jazz Club was set up in June 1998, and every Tuesday since then, they’ve had the privilege of hearing top class modern jazz in beautiful St Ives. The club features some of the greatest international and UK musicians, top class regional players, promising young talent and college bands, all within a varied programme which runs every Tuesday all year round at a reasonable admission fee. Their extensive roll-call of musicians who have visited the venue includes many of the greatest in British jazz, not to mention European and American artistes. They have recently launched a new Education Initiative, offering young people in schools and colleges opportunities to experience top quality music and meet the musicians. The schools performances and workshops take place in conjunction with the musicians' appearance at the Club, who pick up the tab for their travel and accommodation, the school paying only for the workshops. School parties are offered discounted admission to the Jazz Club around the workshop date. http://www.stivesjazzclub.com/ https://twitter.com/StIvesJazz

St Ives Jazz Club

Jazz Media Award

Jazz on 3 From free jazz to fusion, post-bop to electronic adventures – Jazz on 3 celebrates the music as a living and developing art form, with exclusive concert recordings and in-depth features and interviews. Hosted by Jez Nelson the show presents the pick of today’s jazz recorded live in concert, talks to the leading players and reviews new releases. Like the best of the music Jazz On 3 respects and celebrates the tradition but always looks to the future! http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 https://twitter.com/BBCJazzon3

Jazz on 3

London Jazz News LondonJazzNews is a website which portrays as much as it can of the dynamism and the diversity of the jazz scene in London and beyond. Priority is given to ensuring that UK musicians are able to communicate with a wide audience about their current activity. LJN started in 2009 as a single-author blog by Sebastian Scotney and has grown to involve a substantial team producing on average three pieces a day: news, previews, interviews, and audio podcasts. There is now an archive of over 5,000 articles online. Readership is 130,000 page-views a day. The regular Wednesday 8am newsletter has a list of what has appeared on the site during the previous week. It also aggregates jazz news and content from a variety of sources, and draws attention to gigs coming up. It has become a widely-read and trusted source of information about the UK scene among influential programmers and broadcasters worldwide. http://www.londonjazznews.com/ https://twitter.com/LondonJazz

London Jazz News

The Jazz Breakfast The Jazz Breakfast, edited by journalist/critic Peter Bacon, has gone from strength to strength since its previous nomination in 2009. With similar editorial standards to London Jazz News, ‘ TJB’ has developed from its origins as a fairly conventional blog into a lively, varied website that knows how and when to be intelligently provocative (the controversy surrounding the online retailer Amazon is a current topic) and carries fairly erudite pieces alongside more journalistic content. The site has also tended to be a focus for debate around the socio-political aspects of jazz, such as the recent changes affecting Jazz Services. http://thejazzbreakfast.com/ https://twitter.com/jazzbreakfast

Jazz Breakfast

Jazz Education Award

Dr Tommy Smith Tommy Smith is a leading light in European jazz, first and foremost as one of the finest saxophonists of his generation, and latterly as the founder, in 1995, and artistic director of The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO). These career-defining achievements are framed by his status as an international recording artist; a composer and arranger of extraordinary ambition; and not least, as a jazz educator. His prolific career began in earnest when, aged only sixteen, he recorded his first album Giant Strides. He was rewarded with a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, an experience that has shaped his affirmative approach to jazz. Since then, he has toured and recorded with many of the greatest players of his generation and has made twenty-seven solo albums as a leader for Blue Note, Linn and his own label Spartacus Records. Tommy Smith is also founder/director of The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2001 and established the first ever full-time jazz course in Scotland at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow in 2009. He also holds three honorary doctorates from Heriot-Watt, Glasgow Caledonian & Edinburgh Universities and a Professorship from the RCS. http://www.tommy-smith.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/TommySmithMusic

http://www.rcs.ac.uk/courses/bmus-with-honours/jazz/ https://www.facebook.com/tommy.smith.sax https://www.facebook.com/TommySmithSaxophonist?ref=hl

Tommy Smith

Credit Colin Robertson

National Youth Jazz Orchestra The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is one of Britain’s longest-running ensembles for young people under 25 playing big-band jazz. Founded by Bill Ashton OBE in 1965, the orchestra offered aspiring young musicians the opportunity to rehearse, write and gain experience in live performance at a time when UK jazz education was in its infancy. NYJO features 23 musicians and vocalists from around the country, most of whome have gone on to become professional musicians. Alumni include Guy Barker, Mark Nightingale, Gerard Presencer, Pete Long, Dennis and Winston Rollins and Amy Winehouse. Members are encouraged to write their own arrangements and compositions, thereby creating a diverse repertoire to draw from in addition to classic big-band standards. NYJO delivers a wide variety of education projects in partnership with Music Hubs around the country and also runs the NYJO Academy (three training bands and vocal class) each Saturday. NYJO celebrates its 50th birthday in 2015. http://www.nyjo.org.uk/ https://twitter.com/nyjoUK www.facebook.com/nyjo.jazz

NYJO

Credit Carl Hyde

Simon Purcell Simon Purcell is probably best known as Head of Jazz at Trinity-Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and member of the Pop and Jazz Steering Group for the Association of European Conservatoires. Since the mid-1980s, Simon has performed both as leader and sideman, appearing with amongst others – Red Rodney, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Stan Sulzman, Jean Toussaint and Julian Arguelles. During his teacher-training he was fortunate to be tutored by Janet Ritterman head of the Music Education Department at Goldsmiths College. A succession of Tuesday afternoon workshops required him to teach songs nonverbally, i.e. without any verbal explanation or notation. This introduction to hemispherical function of the brain, educational psychology and the realisation that lesson planning and evaluation was not only necessary in order to achieve trouble-free lessons but also was a form of creative problem-solving, convinced him of a joint vocation as musician and teacher. http://simonpurcell.com/ https://twitter.com/simonpurcelljaz

Simon Purcell

Services to Jazz Award

Chris Hodgkins Chris was raised in Cardiff and in 1974 co-founded the Welsh Jazz Festival with Geoff Palser. Four years later, he was instrumental in establishing the Welsh Jazz Society with David Greensmith. As a professional trumpeter, Chris toured the UK and Europe with Johnny Bastable’s Chosen Six, Monty Sunshine, Route 66; appearing at the Sacramento Jazz Festival in the States with the Pete Allen Band, and tours of Germany with the Chris Haskins Band. In 1985 Chris was appointed Director of Jazz Services, the national organisation funded by Arts Council England to provide services in information, touring, education, communications and publishing to the UK jazz community. As Chair of the National Jazz Archive, Chris led the team that secured investment of £346,300 in the National Jazz Archive by the Heritage Lottery Fund in July 2011. After 29 years, in May 2014 Chris took the decision to step down as Director of Jazz Services. With his days of administration behind him, Chris now takes to the road, the radio and the recording studio to focus on playing the music he loves. http://www.chrishodgkins.co.uk/

Chris Hodgkins

Evan Parker Evan Parker the British jazz saxophone revolutionary who transformed the language and techniques of the instrument in the late 1960s and has since become one of the most admired and influential saxophone improvisers on the planet. Parker has been rewriting the book on the sounds that can be made with a saxophone for almost half a century, developing a remarkable post-Coltrane technique that has allowed him to play counterpoint on what was designed as a single-line instrument, generate electronics-like textures acoustically, and build a personal soundscape that avoids conventional tunes but has its own arresting lyricism. Parker's future plans involve exploring further possibilities in electronics and the development of his solo music. They also depend to a large degree on continuity of the trios, of the large ensembles, of his more occasional yet still long-standing associations with that pool of musicians to whose work he remains attracted. http://evanparker.com/

Evan Parker

Credit Caroline Forbes

Mike Gordon Mike Gordon is the Director of the Scarborough Jazz Festival which takes place every September. As pianist with his trio he founded Scarborough Jazz 31 years ago and since then the club has been providing 50 nights of jazz every year. The Festival is now in its 13

th year and he hosts the event in the Scarborough Spa with

audience figures of 1000+ for the evening events and 700 for the day. The festival is self-funding with only small amounts of sponsorship from local businesses and it is down to Mike Gordon and an efficient team that the festival has been so successful. https://twitter.com/scarboroughjaz1 www.scarboroughjazz.co.uk www.scarboroughjazzfestival.co.uk

Mike Gordon

Credit Merlin Dalman