Emma-Jean Thackray (born c. 1989) is an English bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, singer, DJ and producer. She was born and brought up in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, and is now based in

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...

, south-east London.

Early life

Thackray played the cornet in local brass bands in Yorkshire. She studied jazz trumpet at the

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

under British jazz pianist and composer

Keith Tippett Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "..spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary ...

. After her studies at the college, she took a master’s in

orchestral jazz An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ...

composition at

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

under composers

Issie Barratt Issie Barratt (born 29 November 1964) is a British composer, known for her work in Big Band jazz and jazz education. Career Issie has been awarded commissions by the Philharmonia Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Bohuslä ...

and

Errollyn Wallen Errollyn Wallen (born April 10, 1958) is a Belize-born British composer. Life Errollyn Wallen moved to London with her family when she was two. While her parents moved to New York, she and her three siblings (one of whom is the trumpeter Byr ...

Music career

In 2020 Thackray started her own record label, called Movementt, as an outlet for her own music. The label's first release was her solo EP ''Rain Dance'', followed by reissues of her 2016 EP ''Walrus'' and 2018 EP ''Ley Lines''. In June 2021, shortly after appearing on

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

show ''

Later… With Jools Holland ''Later... with Jools Holland'' (also known as ''Even Later... with Jools Holland'', and previously known as ''Later Live... with Jools Holland'' and ''...Later with Jools Holland'') is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jo ...

'', she was signed by

Warner Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. In July 2021, Thackray released ''Yellow'', her debut album, on her own ''Movementt'' record label. The chosen label name reflects her motto: “move the body, move the mind, move the soul". The album reached No. 1 in the UK Jazz Albums Chart, and No. 3 in the

UK Independent Albums Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

Discography

References

External links

Official website of Emma-Jean Thackray

Bandcamp profile E. J. Thackray
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thackray, Emma-Jean 1980s births English cornetists English jazz trumpeters Multi-instrumentalists Warner Music Group artists Living people People from the City of Leeds