Billy Jenkins (born 5 July 1956) is an English

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist, composer and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

. He was born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. Jenkins was a member of Burlesque, then Trimmer & Jenkins. After a short period, he was a member of Ginger Baker's Nutters. For several years, he ran Wood Wharf Studios. He worked on his own VOTP Records label and led the Voice of God Collective, a group which included

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the greatest modern jazz saxophonists. Career Ballamy was born in Guildford, Surrey, and educated at George Abbot School, Guildford, from 1975 ...

, Django Bates, Steve Watts, Ashley Slater and other members of the group

Loose Tubes Loose Tubes were a British jazz big band/orchestra active during the mid-to-late 1980s. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the band was considered to be the focal point of a 1980s renaissance in British jazz. It was the main launchpad for the ...

. The band released several albums, including ''Sounds Like Bromley'' and ''Uncommerciality''. In the 1990s, Jenkins recorded several albums on

Oliver Weindling Oliver Weindling (born 1955) is a British jazz promoter and founder of the Babel Label, Babel jazz record label. Background He came from a family that encouraged his interest in music, being taken to the opera and concerts regularly. Originally an ...

's Babel Records, and led some seasons at the Vortex Jazz Club. He is now best known as a blues guitarist. Until 2009, Jenkins was captain of Francis Drake

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

club on Hilly Fields,

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

. He masterminded a successful season of live music to accompany the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

at the Vortex Jazz Club. In the mid-1990s, Jenkins and his band The Blues Collective, took part in a parody documentary entitled '' Virus Called The Blues'', produced and directed by Craig Duncan.

Discography

Studio albums * ''Sounds Like Bromley'' (1982) * ''Greenwich'' (1985) * ''Uncommerciality Vol 1'' (1986) * ''

Scratches of Spain ''Scratches of Spain'' is an album by English experimental jazz guitarist and bandleader Billy Jenkins (musician), Billy Jenkins, featuring the Voice of God Collective. It was released on the Babel Records label in 1987. As with many of Jenkins' ...

'' (

Babel Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to: Arts and media Written works Books *Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith * Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu * Babel (20 ...

, 1987) * ''Wiesen'' (1987) * ''Round Midnight Cowboy'' (1988) * ''In the Nude: Standards, Vol. 1'' (1988) * ''In the Nude'' (1988) * ''Motorway At Night'' (1988) * ''Uncommerciality Vol 2'' (1988) * ''Blue Moon in a Function Room'' (1990) * ''Entertainment USA'' (1994) * ''East West'' (1996) *''S.A.D'' (1996) *''Still Sounds Like Bromley'' (1997) *''True Love Collection'' (1999) *''Suburbia'' (1999) *''Blues Zero 2'' (2002) *''When the Crowds Have Gone'' (2004) *''Born Again (And the Religion is the Blues)'' (2010) Live albums * ''Jazz Cafe Concerts Vol 1'' (1989) * ''Jazz Cafe Concerts Vol 2'' (1989) * ''Billy Jenkins / Fun Horns: Mayfest ‘94'' (1995) * ''Billy Jenkins / Fun Horns: East / West'' (1996) *''Songs of Praise Live'' (2007) Compilation albums *''First Aural Art Exhibition'' (2006)

References

External links

Billy Jenkins website

Billy Jenkins' MySpace page

Babel Label website

Vortex website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Billy 1956 births Living people English blues guitarists English jazz guitarists English male guitarists British male jazz musicians Voice of God Collective members Oxcentrics members

Discography

See also

References

External links