Update: The next View From the Tower will be held on 27th January 2013 

View From the Tower

At the Vortex Jazz Club 25th November 3.30pm

Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/190308

The latest instalment of themed performances exploring the work of Great British composers. This month's participating musicians are: Steve Waterman (trumpet), Gareth Lockrane (flute), Elliot Galvin (piano), Dave Hamblett (drums), Trish Clowes (tenor sax), Calum Gourlay (double bass) and Dan Messore (guitar). The musical arrangements and concept are led by Dan Messore. 

STEVE WATERMAN (TRUMPET)

Steve Waterman is one of Britain's top jazz trumpet players playing regularly on the British and European jazz scene. He is also a professor of Jazz Trumpet at Trinity College of Music in London and visiting Jazz Trumpet specialist at The Royal Northern College Of Music and The Welsh College Of Music And Drama. 

GARETH LOCKRANE (FLUTE)
Gareth Lockrane has acquired quite a reputation as a composer, and more recently the accolade of the 'flute phenonenon'. He studied at the National Film School where he excelled at film scoring. His album ‘No Messin’ won the Best Album category in the Parliamentary Jazz Award. Lockrane's Grooveyard's latest album, 'The Strut' was launched at the London Jazz Festival this month. Follow this link for a review by Chris Parker.
http://londonjazz.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/cd-review-and-interview-podcast-gareth.html



ELLIOT GALVIN (PIANO)

Elliot Galvin is a composer, jazz pianist and founding member of the CHAOS COLLECTIVE. He says that he is influenced by many things, including Miles Davis, Igor Stravinsky, György Ligeti, Dylan Thomas and Mark Rothko. 

Galvin's Trio plays music composed and arranged by him - fusing jazz, contemporary classical and folk styles. Read more about Chaos Collective here. http://www.chaos-collective.com/#!

DAVE HAMBLETT (DRUMS)

Dave Hamblett has played with some exceptional musicians including the F-ire Collective Large Ensemble, Ivo Neame Quartet, Sam Crowe Group, Richard Fairhurst's Triptych, Jonathan Bratoeff Quartet, Jasper Hoiby, Stan Sulzmann, Julian Arguilles, Elizabeth Shepherd and Elisa Caleb. Hamblett plays with the Ivo Neame Quintet and the late Abram Wilson Quartet. He has performed at festivals including: London, Madrid Jazz Festivals, IAJE New York and Los Angeles, Lounge on the Farm, and more, as well as the main London venues.

The Dave Hamblett Group - Live at the Con

TRISH CLOWES (TENOR SAX)
Trish Clowes was recently announced as  a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist for 2012-14 and the first female artist to be given the recognition. She has been called the queen of chamber jazz with a large dose of cool. Her latest album And in the Night-time She is There (Basho) is a line from an Oscar Wilde poem called The Sphinx. Roaming freely and floating across shifting scenery were just some of the words John Fordham used to convey the experience of the music created by the ensemble whose roaming crosses jazz improv classical and folk motifs. Follow this link for a review of the album http://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/and-in-the-night-time-she-is-there/

Interview with Clowes

CALUM GOURLAY (DOUBLE BASS)
Calum Gourlay began his musical journey playing the cello in primary school and by the age of fourteen started the double bass, having developed a serious interest in jazz and improvised music. Gourlay’s talents were noticed by many of Scotland’s premier jazz artists, and as a result he became the first bassist selected for the then ‘brand new’ Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra as well as the bass chair in the NYJOS and FYJO. Gourlay has since become a mainstay on the London scene while performing regularly in the UK and Europe. Already a very experienced young musician, Calum has performed and recorded with many illustrious names including the Kit Downes Trio, the Tommy Smith Group, Will Vinson, The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra featuring Joe Lovano, John Schofield, and Kurt Elling, Martin Speake, Martin Kershaw, Stacey Kent, Sheila Jordan and Trish Clowes.

Calum Gourlay with Kit Downes and James Maddren



DAN MESSORE (GUITAR)
Dan Messore was tutored by pianist-composer Huw Warren and mentored by saxophonist Iain Bellamy who said Messore is ‘a mature and confident musician with an individual approach to writing and playing’. Messore’s debut album Indigo Kid (Babel) this year featured all but one original scores by Messore evoking  nature and natural environments. This month saw the launch of another album Lacuna (Babel) with another mentor Steve Waterman. Messore's biog here http://www.danmessore.com/danmessore/Biography.html