Bands

Rob Luft Band

Having won the 2016 Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize in association with The Royal Academy of Music, Rob formed this project in order to record an album of his original compositions for Edition Records. Opting for the format of a power trio, the rhythm section consists of rising stars Corrie Dick and Tom McCredie, and the album features an expanded quintet line-up with the addition of Joe Wright (tenor saxophone) and Joe Webb (Hammond organ). Drawing influence from artists such as Ali Farka Toure, Bill Frisell, and Radiohead, the band can be seen as Britain’s answer to The Wayne Krantz Trio! Their debut album was released on 28 July 2017 and will be launched on 23 September 2017, at King’s Place, London.

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Big Bad Wolf

Big Bad Wolf is a London-based band featuring washy guitars, ambient vocals, brassy hooks and deep grooves. This distinctive sound arises largely from the band’s consistently egalitarian process of group composition, where all 4 members are present from conception to completion of each song. Starting each writing session by recording an open-ended group improvisation, they then listen back, pick out the best ideas and develop them into intricate and concise pieces of music. Big Bad Wolf have developed a unique way to bridge the gap between improvised music and contemporary pop/rock styles. All four band members have a strong grounding in jazz from their studies on the prestigious jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music and at Leeds College of Music. From this background, the band strives to constantly push the boundaries and blur the edges of the genre through a wealth of influences, from Bjork to Derek Bailey, brought to the table by each member of the group. From the band’s first experimentations in late 2014 there has always been a primary focus on the instrumental blend within the slightly unconventional line up (trombone, guitar, bass VI and drums) and how to work that into forging an individual, contemporary sound whilst still honouring the improvisational element of the jazz tradition. Big Bad Wolf are proud recipients of a Help Musicians UK Development Grant and are also winners of the 2015 Zealous X Music Category.

Their debut album, “Pond Life”, was released on 16 July 2017, and is available to purchase via the band’s website.

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Deco Ensemble

Encuentro

Rob co-founded the tango quintet The Deco Ensemble in 2013 whilst studying at The Royal Academy of Music and has performed with them at The National Philharmonic (Warsaw), The Purcell Room (London), Salle Cortot (Paris), Ministry of Culture (Bratislava), Palazzo Brancaccio (Rome), as well as in many other major European cities.

‘Encuentro’ is their debut album, released in July 2015, in which the members of the Deco Ensemble have combined their spirit of fearless exploration to re-imagine the Tango Nuevo Quintet, combining classical, jazz and traditional music influences.

‘Encuentro’ features works by a handful of the foremost Argentinian composers of tango music, including Astor Piazzolla & Gustavo Beytelmann, as well as compositions by the Belgian contemporary classical composer Frédéric Devreese.

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Byron Wallen’s Four Corners

Four Corners is the latest project from celebrated British jazz trumpeter, Byron Wallen. The music takes its inspiration from the human soul from all corners of the earth. Landmarks of blues, mode and groove are explored and re-invented. Byron’s written pieces are systematically broken down into spaced-out jams, almost telepathically abstract and Grateful Dead-like at times, where you’re left wondering (in the best possible sense)  “are they even playing music now, or…?”. The group also features American drummer Rod Youngs and rising UK tuba player Theon Cross.

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Phelan Burgoyne Trio

The trio have been close collaborators since early 2014 when Burgoyne and Luft were both students at the Royal Academy of Music in London where Speake is a professor. Unquiet Quiet is the debut recording by the trio, and it was recorded in the space of a single, cold February afternoon in a small, acoustically beautiful studio on the south coast of England. Comprising of predominantly first takes, the music is heavily improvised and sculpted around the nucleus of Burgoyne’s strong, sketch-like melodies, inspired by particular characters, landscapes and memories. At just under thirty-four minutes long, the recording can be interpreted as a miniature sonic triptych in three parts, punctuated by two fleeting solo percussion interludes. From the cryptic “Imubasam” to the ardent and brooding “Afterthought” the recording features Speake at his most rhapsodic, against the backdrop of Luft’s warm, glowing harmonies and Burgoyne’s abstract rubato drumming. Unquiet Quiet captures a raw and intuitive performance from the Phelan Burgoyne Trio and stands as an amalgamation of the last two years of collaboration, growth and searching together.

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