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SOLD OUT - Beats N Pieces Big Band - Big Ideas Album Launch + Finn Peters Trio Monday 20th February
A superb bill tonight featuring Beats N Pieces premiering their latest album 'Big Ideas' , plus Finn Peters Trio.
Doors Open 6pm
Finn Peters 7.30pm
Beats N Pieces 8.45pm
Late Late Show 10.30pm
Doors Close 3am
The Beats & Pieces Big Band is a 14 piece contemporary jazz ensemble based in Manchester and led by Ben Cottrell. The band released their debut EP in December 2009 on Efpi Records, an independent label run by three of the band members, and have performed across the UK to consistent acclaim. In March 2011, Beats & Pieces were named as the winners of the European Young Artists’ Jazz Award, part of the Burghausen International Jazz Festival in Germany. Winning the competition ahead of 4 other finalists from across Europe led to a gala concert alongside Chick Corea and Gary Burton, which was recorded for broadcast on German national TV and radio.
Lineup
1. Ben Cottrell - leader
2. Ben Watte - saxophone
3. Sam Healey - saxophone
4. Anthony Brown - saxophone
5. Tim Cox - trombone
6. Simon Lodge - trombone
7. Paul Strachan - bass trombone
8. Owen Bryce - trumpet
9. Graham South - trumpet
10. Nick Walters - trumpet
11. Patrick Hurley - keyboards
12. Anton Hunter - guitar
13. Harrison Wood - bass
14. Finlay Panter - drums
15. Najia Bag - vocals
“They couple gale-force collective energy and confidence to startlingly original material (most of it by its rising-star leader Ben Cottrell) that acknowledges big-band traditions while radically modernising them.” John Fordham, The Guardian
“Their performance would have reassured anyone who wonders whether the big band tradition can connect with a twentysomething audience that knows its Radiohead but thinks that Stan Kenton is probably a window-cleaner in Coronation Street” Clive Davis, The Times
“Beats & Pieces is to the big band tradition what Polar Bear is to the saxophone led quartet” London Jazz Festival
“If ever there was a big band that sounded perfect for the 21st century young person, Beats & Pieces is it” Peter Bacon, thejazzbreakfast
Growing from an initial meeting in early 2008, the band were invited to open the Manchester Jazz Festival later that year on the strength of a two track demo recorded at that very first rehearsal. In the autumn following their first gigs, the band were shortlisted for the Peter Whittingham Award for new and innovative work in jazz, a prize previously won by some of the brightest talents in the UK. Since then, the band have performed across the UK, notably on two highly successful tours in Summer 2010 and November 2010, and made their debut at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Club in London in January 2011 in a sold out gig that received glowing 4-star reviews in both the Guardian and the Times. The Beats & Pieces EP has been listed in the monthly charts in Jazzwise magazine on several occasions, and tracks from the EP have been played nationwide on BBC Jazz on 3 and Jazz FM.
The members of the group are drawn from some of the most exciting and in demand young musicians active in the UK today. Most have played together in a variety of different contexts for many years, and came together from a shared need and desire to perform contemporary large ensemble repertoire which fully embraces their broad musical influences. In addition to the jazz canon, these also include the music of groups such as Polar Bear, Led Bib and Troyka; of groundbreaking larger ensembles such as Loose Tubes, Colin Towns? Mask Orchestra and the Matthew Herbert Big Band; and of revolutionary popular artists such as the Beatles, Radiohead and Björk.
The format of the band is an adaptation of the traditional big band line-up, consisting of 3 saxophones/reeds, 3 trombones, 3 trumpets, piano/Rhodes, guitar, bass and drums, as well as a laptop musician manipulating the sound of the band live in real time. All charts are originals by musical director Ben Cottrell, specially composed and arranged with the unique characteristics of each musician in the band in mind.
The band’s founder and musical director, Ben Cottrell, was chosen as one of 8 young creative musicians from across the UK to participate in the 2010/11 edition of the prestigious Take Five professional development scheme. The scheme is produced by Serious and funded by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, the PRS for Music Foundation, Arts Council England and the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, and its alumni includes musicians at the forefront of contemporary British jazz.
The Beats & Pieces Big Band is grateful to the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund for its support for their recent trip to Germany through an Ensembles and Groups Award.
Finn Peters Trio
FINN PETERS – alto sax/flute, OREN MARSHALL – tuba, TOM SKINNER – drums
Finn Peters is one of the leading flute and sax players in the UK today. A musician born and bred, he has dedicated his life to perfecting his art. He comes from a family of musicians, which can be traced back to the 1600s and started playing the flute aged five. Fortunate to be surrounded by famous musicians as he grew up, he decided on a career in music and has been studying ever since. After spending his teens practicing non-stop, he studied musicology at Durham University, then completed a post-graduate course at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
His widescreen approach to composition and improvisation comes from working with some of the last decade's most progressive artists. Moving to London in 1994 exposed Finn to many disparate musical styles, from which he has created an individual and genre-spanning musical language. He has traveled the world as a much-in-demand session player and has continued to learn about music from around the globe. This explorative nature has lead him to work with such pioneers as Frederick Rzewski, Bill Frisell, DJ Spinna, Sam Rivers and Sa-Ra creative partners, to name a few. All the while he has been developing his own productions, writing and playing and forging a new musical alloy from this melting pot of traditions.
Besides working on upwards of 200 recordings for other artists, Finn has released a number of his own recordings. The two Dr Seus EPs, released on his own imprint, Mantella records, were played in clubs across Europe by high profile tastemakers such as Gilles Peterson and Mr Scruff. Two tracks for Club Brasil, Joyce covers ‘Femenina’ and ‘Aldeia de Ogum’, were championed by DJs in the know like Rainer Truby and charted all over the world as well as getting extensive amounts of airplay. Two co-productions with ‘The Deal’ for Trip do Brasil were also club-land favourites.
Fellow musicians and critics alike have consistently praised Finn’s work. In 1999 his achievements were recognised when he won the London Young Jazz Musician Award. Bansuri, released in 2005, pushed his name further into the limelight when
his collaboration with Bembe Segue on "The Birds" was nominated for track of the year in the BBC Radio 1 Worldwide Award. He has been described by Straight no Chaser magazine as being "the blazing definition of a seriously heavy player" and by Jazzwise as being "head and shoulders above his peers."
Su-Ling, his debut release for Babel records, received a great deal of airplay on BBC Radio 1,2,3 and 1xtra. In 2007 Finn’s Quintet won the BBC Jazz Awards Best Band. Mojo Magazine described Peters as “a major figure in the making.”
2008 saw a successful Arts Council UK tour and appearances at the North Sea and Gateshead Jazz Festivals for the Finn Peters Sextet. The album Butterflies, released on Accidental Records and co-produced with Matthew Herbert was received to great critical acclaim. Time Out called it “Mesmerising and deeply rewarding...an essential listen **** and The Daily Telegraph, “…a gem of a disc…Peters is onto something distinctive.” He was also nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Composition Award.
The acclaim received for “Butterflies”, which is essentially a jazz album that sits comfortably along-side electronic, world and classical music, illustrates the fact that people are starting to understand the open-minded philosophy of a musician working at the peak of his creative powers.
Finn went on to win the 2009 Radio 1 Worldwide Awards “Best Session” category and was runner up in the “Best Album” category. His improvisation on an Algorythm was chosen as part of the Radio 3 best line up of 2009 for Jazz on 3.
Throughout 2010 Finn worked on a new electro-acoustic project entitled “Music of the Mind” which deals with brainwaves in music and new forms of algorhythmically based composition and improvisation. This groundbreaking project, supported by the Arts Council and Californian based Neurosky, garnered an extraordinary amount of press with appearances on Radio 4's “Today” programme, BBC World and GMTV on ITV. The album was described by The Independent as “nothing like you have ever heard before.” The group toured the Music of the Mind in the UK, performing with live visuals and a film made about the project by Nick Hillel during 2010 and 2011. Music of the Mind is to be featured in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary.
Details
Date:
Monday 20th February
Ticket Prices:
£15.00 - £28.50
Doors open time
First House
18:00
