Gary Crosby OBE, Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors and Jazz Jamaica suffered a stroke on Monday 29 January 2018 just a few days after celebrating his birthday with family and friends.
via GARY CROSBY ON THE WAY TO RECOVERY FOLLOWING A STROKE ON MONDAY 29 JANUARY —
The British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has bestowed high honours on Gary Crosby with one of its Gold Badge Awards.
This festival I’m looking forward to playing a rare gig with my long-time friend, the unique and highly distinctive saxophonist, Steve Williamson as part of a Tomorrow’s Warriors Takeover at The Cockpit, London. We’re being hosted by JazzFM presenter, Jez Nelson – also a great friend – who has put on an extra date in his Jazz In The Round season to mark almost 25 years of Tomorrow’s Warriors, the programme I founded all those years ago with my partner, Janine. Also on the bill are Tomorrow’s Warriors String Ting (a young string quartet I’m supporting) and the Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Orchestra conducted by Binker Golding.
I did an interview with Jez for his programme, Somethin’ Else broadcast on JazzFM on Saturday 13 November. We talked about some of the great jazz musicians that have graduated from the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme and, of course, my forthcoming set with Steve. Have to say, I was surprised, actually very humbled, to be described by Jez earlier in the show as ‘one of the most important people on the British jazz scene ever’! Hmmmm, anyway, he played some tracks from back in the day by several of the Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni, all of which still sound great today.
If you missed the interview, you can ‘listen again’ here – the interview kicks off at 0:55:25 with Jez playing Gorée Island, a piece I wrote for my band, Nu Troop on the album, Migrations (DUNECD01)…lots of fond memories working with a great bunch of musicians. Must root out the CD and give it another spin!
You can catch Steve and me, and lots of musicians from the Tomorrow’s Warriors community at The Cockpit on Saturday 19 November at 8pm. Hope you can make it, and enjoy the rest of the festival!
I’m very excited to be launching my new session, The Jazz Salon. I’ve been mulling it over for a while now but, finally, it’s happening thanks to the wonderful team at Tomorrow’s Warriors and Ray’s Jazz.
The Jazz Salon is hosted by my friend, journalist and broadcaster, Kevin Le Gendre who will have a conversation with our guests to get their insight into the cultural reverberations of jazz of particular interest to the individuals: Health & Wellbeing (26 Feb),Food (25 Mar), Spoken Word (29 Apr), Dance, Art (27 May), and Dance (24 Jun). Guests include jazz trumpeter and yoga aficionado Yazz Ahm
ed, broadcaster and Jazz FM presenter Helen Mayhew, poet/DJ Charlie Dark (in association with Apples & Snakes), vinyl specialists Gearbox Records, and dancer/choreographer Sean Graham. I’ll be leading the Jazz Salon House Band featuring emerging talent from my Tomorrow’s Warriors cohort, and we’ll be picking up the conversation where it’s left off by playing a selection of related jazz repertoire. Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Orchestra will be making a special appearance in March to recreate the sounds of Duke Ellington’s Cotton Club.
Keep in touch and follow us to see our recommended listening and reading lists for our salon sessions!
Twitter: @TheJazzSalon
Facebook: therealjazzsalon
Find out more about it here
VENUE: The Auditorium, Foyles Bookshop, 107 Charing Cross Road, London WC2
T: 020 7440 3205, Rays Jazz at Foyles, Admission: £5.00
Download a flyer for the full series here
Oh nooooooooooo!!! We have bad news…at least it’s bad news if you don’t already have a ticket…our Jazz Jamaica Christmas Party on Saturday 12 December at our favourite club, The Hideaway in Streatham is completely SOLD OUT!!!! They can’t even squeeze a sneeze into the building, never mind another human being as the gig is RAM, CHOKKA, FULL UP, PROPER SOLD OUT!!! Which is a shame because it means loads of people will miss our very special guest…the legendary Winston ‘Mr Fix It’ Francis!
So, sadly, unless you’re planning to be in Mexico this weekend, you’ve missed your chance to catch us this side of 2015. But, if you do just happen to be in Guadalajara on 6 December, you can catch us there, closing the 9 day Guadalajara International Book Festival – a cultural festival in which the UK is the Guest of Honour in 2015, and which brings to a close a year-long celebration of cultural, educational and business exchanges between the UK and Mexico. #UKMX2015
For those who did manage to get tickets to our Christmas Party, we’re all looking forward to a great gig (as always at The Hideaway!) and to helping you skank your way into the festive holiday season.
One love!
A great review from Jazzwise (see below), but just wanted to say I had a fantastic time in Brighton last Friday playing at The Verdict Jazz Club with Groundation (Nathaniel Facey, Shirley Tetteh and Moses ‘Mobo’ Boyd). It was our privilege to be launching a brand new programme of jazz curated by the guys at New Generation Jazz. The Verdict is a lovely little venue, and what the it lacks in size was made up by the enthusiasm of our sold out audience!
Earlier in the day Nat and I led a workshop at BIMM where we came across a number of very talented young musicians. Maybe we’ll see some of them at Tomorrow’s Warriors…
Peace and love to Jack Kendon and Co at New Generation Jazz for organising it all. And best of luck to you guys for the rest of the series. We look forward to coming back sometime – it’s a great gig.
Meantime, here’s that great review I mentioned from our friends at Jazzwise Magazine – thanks guys!
GARY CROSBY’S GROUNDATION LAY NEW MUSICAL FOUNDATIONS AT THE VERDICT
In the practice of Rastafari, a Grounation is a musical and motivational meeting-up of the community – part prayer meeting, part drumming circle, part mentoring session, it’s the means by which the core values of the group are re-examined and reinvigorated, and its traditions upheld and passed down. Gary Crosby’s Groundation is happening in Brighton tonight…for an evening of exploration, affirmation and conversation.
What follows is an explosive, wide-ranging four-way exposition on the state of jazz today, (and the shape of jazz to come). Read on…
Photos courtesy of New Generation Jazz.
Coleridge Goode (Photo: © Sisi Burn)
James and Sandy Goode invite friends and fans of Coleridge to join them in celebrating their father’s long and fulfilling life.
100 and out. A life well lived.
See below for details of the service.
