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NYJO
The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) is a British jazz orchestra founded in 1965 by Bill Ashton. In 2010. Mark Armstrong took over as Music Director of the flagship performing band, and Artistic Director of the organisation; Bill Ashton became Life President, and Nigel Tully became Executive Chair. Based in Westminster, London, England, NYJO started life as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra, and evolved into becoming the national orchestra. Its aims are to provide an opportunity for gifted young musicians from around the UK to perform big band jazz in major concert halls, theatres, and on radio and television, and to make recordings, commission new works from British composers and arrangers, and to introduce a love of jazz to as wide an audience as possible, but especially to schoolchildren. The performing band, NYJO, is selected by audition and invitation, and has a maximum age of 25. It performs around 40 gigs a year across the UK, the vast majority involving additional in ...
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Bill Ashton (jazz Musician)
William Michael Allingham Ashton OBE (born 6 December 1936) is a British band leader, saxophonist and composer, best known for co-founding NYJO - the British National Youth Jazz Orchestra, of which he was Musical Director from 1965 until his retirement in 2009 when he became Life President. Ashton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire. From 1955-57 he was educated at Rossall School which soon developed into a career in the Royal Air Force doing National Service, before he then went to Oxford University in 1957, where he first began playing jazz professionally at functions and competitions, founding the Oxford University Big Band. On leaving university in 1960, he went to France and worked as a professional musician in the American army bases for about nine months. Returning to London, he did supply teaching, mostly French, and started to join various blues bands. After working with Red Bludd’s Bluesicians, he founded what became NYJO with Pat Evans and Mike Kershaw in 1965. Ashto ...
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Carol Kenyon
Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by Brothers in Rhythm in 1992, again featuring Carol's vocals, it made number 4. She was also featured on the Paul Hardcastle hit " Don't Waste My Time", which got to number 8 in 1986. Early life When Kenyon was a child, she was encouraged to sing and dance. She took lessons and entered arts festival contests. She played piano. She enjoyed listening to the collection of jazz records her father had. She was singing with a school choir at a music festival in Harrow. A young musician also appearing there, Guy Barker, heard her. He encouraged her to work more seriously on singing. Eventually Barker encouraged her to attend an National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) engagement. There, after hearing her sing, NYJO took her on, as its first regular ...
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Frank Ricotti
Frank Ricotti (born 31 January 1949) is an English jazz vibraphonist and percussionist. Early life and education Ricotti was born in London, England. His father was a drummer. Bill Ashton, founder of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), was an early mentor. As a teenager, Ricotti played vibraphone and learned composition and arranging in the NYJO, and later attended Trinity College of Music between 1967 and 1970. Career Ricotti worked with Neil Ardley (1968–71), Dave Gelly, Graham Collier, Mike Gibbs (1969–72), Stan Tracey (1970), Harry Beckett (1970–72), Norma Winstone (1971), Gordon Beck (1973–74), Hans Zimmer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ricotti led his own jazz quartet. A line-up of the band featuring the guitarist Chris Spedding, bassist Chris Laurence and drummer Bryan Spring recorded the album ''Our Point of View'', released in July 1969. In 1971, in partnership with bassist Mike de Albuquerque, he released the album ''First Wind'' (as ...
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Mark Nightingale
Mark Daryl Nightingale (born 29 May 1967) is an English jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger. Career He began on trombone at age nine, and played in the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in his teens. He attended Trinity College of Music from 1985 to 1988. His first band as leader was a trombone quintet called Bonestructure and he has gone on to front various sized groups from quartets and quintets to a Big Band featuring his own compositions and arrangements. Nightingale toured and recorded with James Morrison in Europe from 1994 to 1997. He has had longstanding musical relationships with John Dankworth, Stan Tracey, Alan Barnes and Andy Panayi. Nightingale has composed for trombone and other brass instruments. His published works include ''20 Jazz Etudes'' (1995), ''Multiplicity'' (1996) ''Easy Jazzy Tudes'' (1998), ''Turning Back the Clock'' (2004), and ''Urbieplicity'' (2010). He played trombone on the album ''Ten Summoner's Tales'' by ...
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Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra during her youth, Winehouse signed to Simon Fuller's 19 Management in 2002 and soon recorded a number of songs before signing a publishing deal with EMI. She also formed a working relationship with producer Salaam Remi through these record publishers. Winehouse's debut album, ''Frank'', was released in 2003. Many of the album's songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, were co-written by Winehouse. ''Frank'' was a critical success in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The song "Stronger Than Me" won her the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. Winehouse released her follow-up album, ''Back to Black' ...
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Gerard Presencer
Gerard Presencer (born 12 September 1972) is an English jazz trumpeter. Biography Presencer showed his first interest in what was to become his chosen instrument, the trumpet, at nine. He attributes his early determination to become a trumpeter to hearing Roy Eldridge's solo from a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert. He has cited Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Wheeler, Woody Shaw, and Clifford Brown as early influences. When he was eleven, he became the youngest trumpeter with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. At the age of 18, he began playing with pianist Stan Tracey, in his big band, octet, septet, and in duo, playing a live concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, later released on Blue Note Records. Presencer worked with British musicians Peter King, John Dankworth, John Taylor, Ronnie Scott, Norma Winstone, and Mike Gibbs, as well as with international musicians, including Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pede ...
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Chris Biscoe
Chris Biscoe (born 5 February 1947, East Barnet, Hertfordshire, England) is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute. Biscoe is most notable for his work with Mike Westbrook and the NYJO. Early life In 1963, Biscoe taught himself to play the alto saxophone, and then started playing tenor, soprano, baritone saxes, and the comparatively rare alto clarinet. Career Biscoe was a computer programmer before he became a notable presence on the UK jazz scene. From 1970 to 1973, Biscoe played with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in London, doing gigs with various other London-based bands of that period. Biscoe worked with several notable jazz musicians during the 1970s, such as Harry Beckett, Ken Hyder, Didier Levallet, Chris McGregor, Andy Sheppard, Graham Collier, Danilo Terenzi, Pete Hurt, Tommy Chase, Pete Saberton, Barry Guy, Dave Holdsworth, and Pete Jacobsen. Biscoe was a founder me ...
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London Centre Of Contemporary Music
London College of Creative Media (LCCM) is a private college of higher education in South London offering undergraduate degrees in music, writing, and music management; a postgraduate degree in creative entrepreneurship; and shorter courses in music performance and production. It was founded in 2002 as the London Centre of Contemporary Music and changed to its present name in 2016. LCCM was also the home of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra from 2012 to 2017. History LCCM was founded in 2002 by Geoff Hemsley and Darius Khwaja. Both were professional musicians; Khwaja had also worked for various arts organizations on a freelance basis. Initially called London Centre of Contemporary Music, the college specialised both in teaching the technical aspects of contemporary popular music and in preparation for a career in the industry. In 2003 LCCM moved to premises at 50–52 Union Street in the Bankside district of London.Holden, John (2015)''The Ecology of Culture'' pp. 13–14; 19. Ar ...
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Paul Edmonds (musician)
Paul Richard Edmonds (b.1968) is a British jazz trumpeter and piano player, composer and teacher. Described as the best jazz trumpet player of his generation by the great Canadian trumpeter, Kenny Wheeler, he was a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Mike Westbrook Orchestra and Loose Tubes and performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club both as a leader and sideman. Early career Born in Essex in 1968, Paul Edmonds moved to the south coast of England in 1977, at the age of 9. The same year he started to learn to play the trumpet and by the time he was 16 he was performing publicly with local groups. When he was 17 he joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the following year won First Prize in the International Trumpet Guild's Jazz Improvisation Competition, the final of which was held at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. He then studied at the Guildhall School of Music and graduated in 1989.
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Teresa Gallagher
Teresa Gallagher is an American-born British actress. Career Gallagher is known for her role as Ellen Smith in ''The Bill'', for her appearances on radio in ''No Commitments'', ''Salem's Lot'', and '' Memorials to the Missing''. She played Sarah in ''Footballers' Wives'', and Alison Canning in ''Casualty''. She presented the children's BBC show ''Playdays'', and has provided the voices for others children's series including ''The Mr. Men Show'', ''Alphablocks'', ''Numberblocks'', and ''The Octonauts''. She has recorded redubs for several anime films such as ''Laughing Target'', '' X'', '' Bounty Dog'', ''Demon City Shinjuku,'' and ''Cyber City Oedo 808'' and later returned to do voice acting for anime with the English dubbed version of the TV series '' Ronja, the Robber's Daughter''. In 2003, she voiced Amalia, the female lead in Rita Dove's drama '' The Darker Face of the Earth'', opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor in the play's BBC radio adaptation. In 2010, she voiced Queen ...
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Nigel Hitchcock
Nigel Hitchcock (born 4 January 1971) is an English jazz saxophonist. Biography Hitchcock began to play alto sax at the age of eight. In 1982 he and his elder brother Clive joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After one year Nigel took the lead alto chair for the next five years. During this time the orchestra toured with different musicians such as Vic Damone, Buddy Greco and Al Martino. At the age of 16, Hitchcock moved to London and began his career as a session musician and also had recorded TV jingles, movie soundtracks, and pop solos. In 1989 he joined the contemporary saxophone quartet Itchy Fingers. The band toured Europe and South-East Asia for 18 months. With Itchy Fingers Hitchcock received three jazz awards: the Schlitz award for rising star, the Cleo Laine Personal Award for best young musician, and the Pat Smythe (pianist) Trust award. He left the band to continue as a pop and session musician. Nigel has performed with many artists including Tom Jones, Wet ...
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Simon Phillips (drummer)
Simon Phillips (born 6 February 1957) is a US-based English jazz, fusion and rock drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He worked with rock bands during the 1970s and 1980s and was the drummer for the band Toto from 1992 to 2014. Phillips worked as a session drummer for Jeff Beck, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, Bernie Marsden, Jon Lord, Nik Kershaw, Mike Oldfield, Judas Priest, Mike Rutherford, Tears for Fears, 10cc and The Who. He was the drummer for The Who during the band's American reunion tour in 1989. He became the drummer for the band Toto in 1992 after the death of Jeff Porcaro. Career Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in a Dixieland band led by his father, Sid Phillips for four years. After his father's death, he started playing pop and rock and found work in a production of the musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. He worked as a session musician for cast members, and this led to other session work. Beginning in the 1970s, he worked with ...
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