Curfew are a

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band from England.

Early years: 1988–1995

Curfew were formed in 1988 by Martin Lawrie and Steve Marshall as an outlet for their

compositions. During the next year, the band augmented their lineup with Bill Morrison on drums and Julian Costello on saxophone. After Morrison's departure in 1992, Shan Chana joined the band. With vocalist Rena, the band appeared at venues such as the

Jazz Café The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. In 2020 the Jazz Cafe celebrates its 30th year, h ...

in Camden. In the studio the band produced a number of demos which would later become the basis for their debut album.

New line-up and album: 1995–1997

With the arrival of a new drummer, Russ Wilson the band recorded their first album (''Somewhere In The City'') with guests

Dave O'Higgins Dave O'Higgins (born 1 September 1964) is an English jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, educator and latterly recording engineer and producer. Born in Birmingham, O'Higgins first emerged on the British jazz scene in the 1980s. After playing i ...

and

Mark Hewins Mark Hewins (born 24 March 1955) is an English jazz guitarist known for his connections to the Canterbury scene, a group of English progressive rock musicians during the 1960s. Biography Hewins' professional career as a guitarist began in 1 ...

. The album was released by Afterdark Records.

Back to basics: 2004-present

With only occasional session appearances from Jones and Travis (as well as Lawrie's son Alex on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and EWI), the band entered the studio in December 2004, before releasing ''Hold The Front Page'' in September 2005. With Andrews preoccupied through 2006 with his solo album, the band reconvened in early 2007 for an appearance at the Watermill Jazz Club,

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

. Shortly after this, Wilson announced his departure from the band. On July 20, 2007, Andrews stated on his personal website that Curfew will be performing at the 2007 ''alloutguitarFEST'' (formerly ''Kymfest''). The festival took place on September 16 at the Roadmender venue in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. Having been described in the press as "

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

with a

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocali ...

sound", the band are the self-proclaimed pioneers of the ''electric jazz'' genre; combining traditional instrumentation and performance with modern

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

techniques.Mark Robinson's HTFP review: http://www.alloutguitar.com/issue/2007_05_may_jun/curfew_hold_the_front_page

Personnel

*Martin Lawrie – keyboards *Nick Andrew – guitar *Steve Marshall – bass guitar, flute *Russ Wilson – drums

Discography

* ''Somewhere in the City'' – 1997 * ''Return of the Jazz Fusioneers'' – 2001 * ''Hold the Front Page'' – 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curfew British jazz ensembles Jazz fusion ensembles British jazz-rock groups