Dennis Rollins, (born 1964) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
trombonist
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
, the founder and
bandleader of BadBone and Co.
Early life and career
Dennis George Rollins was born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n parents, and raised in Bentley,
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, where he attended
Don Valley High School. When he was 14 years old, he joined The Doncaster Youth Jazz Association, with which he studied and performed for some years before moving to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1987.
Rollins has recorded, performed, and toured with a host of musicians and bands in jazz and pop, including
Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...
,
and
Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many o ...
,.
In 1995 he formed his own
jazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat ( groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creat ...
band, Dee Roe, with which he performed at such venues 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 ...
,
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959.
History
The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...
, the
London Forum
The O Forum Kentish Town is a concert venue in Kentish Town, London, England owned by MAMA & Company, and originally built in 1934.
History
The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the cinema was close ...
, and
Brixton Academy
Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...
.
In 2000 he again formed a band, the quintet Dennis Rollins' BadBone and Co., launched at the
Barbican Centre in March of that year, again specialising in
funk-inflected jazz.
In 2005 he formed Boneyard, an ensemble featuring 10 trombones,
sousaphone
The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...
(or "sousabone"), and drums; this band performed a series of live gigs throughout the U.K. that summer as well as a performance on
BBC Radio 3. Boneyard featured the British jazz trombonists Barnaby Dickinson, Matt Colman, Julian Hepple, Andy Derrick, Kevin Holborough, Harry Brown, and Lee Hallam, with Andy Grappy on
sousaphone
The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...
.
Current band members of Badbone&co are: Jay Phelps on trumpet, Johnny Heyes on guitars, Courtney Thomas on bass, Ross Stanley on keys and Jack Pollit on drums.
Rollins is an artist/clinician for
Michael Rath Trombones
Michael Rath Trombones is a British manufacturer of retail and custom hand-made trombones. Rath offers artist-quality and student instruments in its line of tenor, bass, contrabass and alto trombones. Rath Trombones was founded in 1996 by i ...
. His personal instrument is a yellow brass/nickel silve
Rath R3
In the
2018 Queen's Birthday Honours list Rollins was awarded an
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
for services to music.
"Jazz musicians recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours"
Jazz FM, 10 June 2018.
Recordings (as leader)
*2000: ''Wild & Free'' (E.P.)
*2001: ''BadBone''
*2003: ''Make Your Move''
*2006: ''Big Night Out''
References
Literature
* John Chilton
John James Chilton (16 July 1932 – 25 February 2016) was a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s, he also worked with pop bands, including The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Escorts. He won a Grammy Award for Best Album Notes in 1 ...
, ''Who's Who of British Jazz'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004,
External links
Dennis Rollins Official website
Myspace page
*Kevin LeGendre, "Funk Is the Preacher, Jazz Is the Teacher", ''Jazzwise
''Jazzwise'', launched in 1997, is the UK jazz monthly magazine. ''Jazzwise'' has a broad sub-genre coverage, from jazz, improv, hard bop, and jazz-rock to bebop and classic jazz, and also covers jazz crossover, including jazz-funk, jazz hip-h ...
'' 97, May 2006, pp. 24–28)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rollins, Dennis
1964 births
Living people
Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands
English jazz trombonists
Male trombonists
21st-century trombonists
21st-century British male musicians
British male jazz musicians
Jazz Warriors members
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Motéma Music artists