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JAMIE FEKETE :: Guitars If the world revolved around cryptic crosswords, fried eggs and shady backstreet pool establishments, Jamie would own at least three continents. Alas, world domination has temporarily been put to one side in favour of a more permanent musical existence, much to the relief of exhausted chicken farmers nationwide.
* Easily confused with ...
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SAM SLATER :: Guitars As West Bromwich Albion will soon have played at Wembley more times in the last twelve months than in all of the previous 25 years of his life, it's rumoured TGC may soon be cancelling all gigs during the football season so Sam can continue to travel to glamorous mid-winter away games at Scunthorpe, Middlesbrough and Wigan. Somehow obtaining a degree in History in 2004, Sam plans to use this wisely and own New York's first Dad's Army themed flamenco-jazz real-ale bar ... * Easily confused with ... |
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PERCY PURSGLOVE :: Double Bass - Trumpet - Cajon Equally at home on double bass, trumpet and now adding the cajon to his luggage rack, Percy returned from a year at the New School for Jazz, New York in 2006, when he was also spotted consuming large numbers of bagels, pancakes and pretzels at every opportunity. NYC Street Traders and Coffee Merchants have been closing daily since his return. Apart from possessing the best name in the Western Hemisphere, Percy is in constant demand nationwide and highly regarded for his fine playing, teaching at Birmingham Conservatoire and work with his own bands. In 2005, Percy was the winner of both the BBC Big Band Competition Soloist Prize and the Starbucks Young Jazz Musician Prize. 'The Glove' performs with numerous jazz-based projects, at home and abroad, including appearances with The Duke Ellington Orchestra at Birdland, the BBC Big Band and the Don Lusher Big Band. Aside from an appearance in Inspector Morse, Percy's other claim to fame was once managing to consume 18 fried eggs, care of the Harvester's much acclaimed 'ham and as many eggs as you want' deal. Few dare to doubt him ...
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HOLLY JONES :: Flutes Flautist extraordinare, workaholic and lover of fine cakes, Holly studied classical flute at Birmingham Consevertoire, where she developed her interest in cake, jazz and improvisation. Since her first year at music college Holly has been the flautist for Svengali, a midlands-based 'jazz funk-fusion' band, who have taken in gigs at Ronnie Scotts with the likes of Guy Barker en route. Since coming to Birmingham, Holly has performed and recorded with a number of fine bands and appeared on albums ranging from breakbeat through to indie-pop. Last year Holly headlined at the Fuerteventura Jazz Festival with The Players Sextet, alongside top Midland 'ex-pats' Sam Pearce, Roger Perks and Steve Sherriff. She is currently gigging and recording original tracks with nu-funk outfit Salavador6. In June 2007, Holly smashed all current records on file for 'most jaffa cakes consumed in a single rehearsal'.
* Easily confused with ...
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LOUIS ROBINSON :: Violin - Viola Owner of numerous violins, violas, a fine collection of hats, a somewhat substantial beard and an even larger bike,
Louis (minus the beard, we presume) started learning the violin at the age of about twelve. After many scratchy years of toil in the wilderness of mid-Wales, he attended the Birmingham Conservatoire to study classical violin, where he developed an interest in folk, world and jazz. After two years Louis changed over to the composition course, which he completed in 2004. * Easily confused with ...
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RAY BUTCHER :: Trumpet Fondly known to those-in-the-know as Raykov Butcheski, the mysterious Russian trumpeter from St Petersburg, Ray(kov) is a very fine, original and creative trumpeter, and has worked with some top names in the jazz field including Jean Toussaint, Tony Levin and Julian Siegel. Ray has also played in numerous international jazz and blues festivals alongside such luminaries as BB King, Afro Cuban Allstars and Tania Maria. At present we cannot find anyone to comment on mysterious rumours linking him to Rasputin ... In 2003 Ray played the trumpet solo at the world premier of “Requiem for Ground Zero”, by Steven Berkoff, and in 2005 and 2007, performed first trumpet in the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem Orchestra. Ray's current projects include an original album, 'War On the Saints', which he has recently finished recording in Chicago at Audio for the Arts studios, Madison, and ARC studios, Birmingham. A long-term collaborator with Trio Gitano, Ray also features on the album of jazz vocalist Julie Dunn, and will be touring with her in spring 2008. Ray is also an excellent pianist, even being known to have made a (working) appearance at the delightful Stringfellows club in his time! * Easily confused with ...
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ANA GARCIA :: Flamenco dance Born in Valdepeñas, La Mancha, Ana Garcia is now one of the most eminent flamenco dancers in the UK. Ana started her dance studies at an early age, attending classes at her local dance school, before taking exams in Classical Ballet and Spanish dance at Malaga’s Conservatoire. Ana studied with some of the great names of Flamenco, such as Maria Magdalena, Ciro, Adrian Galia, Rafaela Carrasco, Belen Fernandez, Belen Maya and Eva La Yerbabuena in Madrid, Seville and Jerez. Alongside Felipe de Algeciras, Ana founded the successful UK-based Flamenco dance company 'Alma' in 2002, featuring dancer Carmela Romero, guitarists Tito Heredia and Ramón Ruiz, and singers Jasmine Villalobos and La Leo. More recently, Ana has collaborated with leading European director Calixto Bieito as a choreographer for the play La Celestina; worked at Montpellier Opera House, France, choreographing the dance of Salome in a ground-breaking twin production of both the Strauss and Mariotte versions of the opera; and also spent several months working on further dance and choreography on operatic productions in Germany in early 2007.
* Easily confused with ...
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BRYAN LESTER :: Guru Inventor of the piano and spiritual leader of music in the west, Bryan is a rather talented guitarist and pianist, composer, arranger, teacher, and purveyor of fine quality stews. Currently studying Indian music in the splendid shape of the Ghatam and Tabla, Bryan has worked tirelessly with Trio Gitano over the past five years as Musical Director, and continues to write and arrange for guitar and piano, most recently commissioned by the Birmingham Music Service to compose a work for classical guitar ensemble. The nifty-fingered Lester is also arranging several of his works for the TG Collective, whilst also working with the equally unhinged and talented accomplice Keith Cole in both performance and composition. In his many hundreds of years on the planet, Bryan first studied at the Royal Northern College for Music, with his first professional work in a series of concerts with the Halle’ and the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestras under Sir John Barbirolli. He also toured as a guitarist and lutenist with the Northern Consort of singers. His first performance as a guitarist/composer was in a concert with pianist John Ogden and the percussionist James Blades for the Manchester Institute of Contemporary Arts, and has since gone on to work as a recitalist worldwide, in concert, recording and on television and radio. He has also published a series of books on guitar technique, inspired by the didactic approach of Bartok’s ‘Mikrokosmos’ for piano, and was a senior lecturer in experimental music and music in film in Kent. In the 1990's, Bryan’s music was featured in the ‘Prestige de la Guitare’ concert series in Brussells, given by the Los Angeles Quartet, the Assad brothers and Eduardo Isaac, who also recorded Bryan's Jazz Fugues for guitar. In more recent years, Bryan has concentrated his energies in to The Birmingham Schools' Guitar Ensemble, a group he founded and ran for young advanced players for over 20 years. He now spends much of his time composing, and musing over new and challenging ingredients for his cauldron of stews.
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ED JOHNSTON :: Clarinet - Tenor Sax An exceptional musician with wonderful expression, Ed has worked with some of the most inventive musicians in the Midlands - Steve Tromans, Sid Peacock - as well as running a jazz sextet, The Munro Baggers, and an 8 piece Afro Funk band. At the 2006 Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, Ed performed with two leading jazz musicians from New York, Dan Weiss and Thomas Morgan, and also played with the excellent Birmingham band, The Sugar Beats. Ed was commissioned by Birmingham Jazz to write and perform a concert in February 2007 - 'A Heart's Tale' - which featured Hans Koller, Genevieve Sylva and Jan Hendrickse, and promptly sold out receiving glowing reviews. After completing a degree in jazz at the Birmingham conservatoire in 2003, Ed has just finished another year of study in the shape of a PGCE, and now teaches near to his home in Devon. We hope Ed will be joining TGC on the new album in 2008. |
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JOE BROUGHTON :: Violin Biog coming soon
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