The Jazz Warriors were an English all-black London-based group of
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 ...
musicians, that made its debut in 1986.
The idea for the band came from the Abibi Jazz Arts, a London organization that promoted black music and
black culture. The Jazz Warriors provided black British musicians with a venue to showcase their talents, which until that time was limited mostly to
funk music
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
.
According to writer
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 ...
, the Jazz Warriors "proved to be the launching pad for the stellar talents of a number of important jazz musicians." The band released one album - 1987's ''Out of Many, One People'' (1987). The band remained together until 1994, despite many of the members leaving for solo careers,
however they reunited in 2020.
History
Formed in the 1980s and including 25-plus members,
The Jazz Warriors became a showcase for talented young black British musicians, many of whom - 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 ...
,
Steve Williamson
Steve Williamson (born 28 June 1964) is an English saxophonist and composer (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, keyboard and composition). He has been called "one of the most distinctive saxophone voices in contemporary Britis ...
,
Cleveland Watkiss
Cleveland Watkiss, (born 21 October 1959), is a British vocalist, actor, and composer.
Biography
Cleveland Watkiss was born in Hackney, East London, to Jamaican parents, and was one of nine children. He is the older brother of pianist Trevo ...
,
Phillip Bent,
Orphy Robinson,
Gary Crosby and others - went on to achieve international success.
Former member Crosby has said of the Jazz Warriors:
There were all these different writers, but everything ended up sounding with the same energy. I've never felt anything like that energy — raucous, raw.... It wasn't the most accurate of bands, but the actual power, and the wildness of the soloing.... It was so exciting. Regardless of who wrote what, once we got to the meat of the music, there were fireworks.... A lot of spunk, man, a lot of testosterone going around!
The Jazz Warriors released only one album: ''Out of Many, One People'', in 1987.
They continued performing and touring under the leadership of pianist Adrian Reid, with the help of a committee formed from senior members of the Warriors, until formally closing in the late 1990s. An EP, ''Chameleon'', was released on their own label, Jazz Warriors Records. It was well received internationally and appeared on a bestselling compilation, ''The Rebirth of the Cool Vol 2'' (
4th & B'way Records
4th & B'way Records (pronounced and spelled out completely as Fourth and Broadway Records in the UK) is a US-based subsidiary of Island Records that specialised in street-oriented music such as hip hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagshi ...
; 1993). Certain new young members continued to gain national prominence and further highlighting the talent pool of young black musicians attracted to the Jazz Warriors; these included
Jason Yarde
Jason Yarde (born 1970) is an English jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, producer and music director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and music ensembles, including Denys Baptiste, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hil ...
,
Dennis Rollins, Winston Rollins, Robert Mitchell, Clarence Adoo,
Byron Wallen
Byron Wallen (born July 1969) is a British jazz trumpeter, composer and educator. He was described by ''Jazzwise'' as "one of the most innovative, exciting and original trumpet players alive". As characterised by ''All About Jazz'', "He does not ...
,
Rowland Sutherland
Rowland Sutherland is a British flautist, who studied flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Kathryn Lukas, Philippa Davies and Peter Lloyd and participated in master classes given by the late Geoffrey Gilbert. He studied jazz with ...
,
Tony Kofi, Robert Fordjour, Steve and Peter Lewinson, Tony Remy, and Patrick Clahar.
Legacy
Courtney Pine's Afropean Jazz Warriors
On 6 October 2007, Courtney Pine assembled a fifteen-piece line-up for a new themed concert called "Afropeans" at the
Barbican Centre, London, marking the bicentenary of the
abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. This new band featured two original Jazz Warriors members (Pine and Jason Yarde), but brought in two other established black British jazz players — pianist Alex Wilson and trumpeter Byron Wallen. It also contained younger black British jazz talent, including Jay Phelps and Nathaniel Facey (both from the band Empirical),
Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Ayanna Mose Witter-Johnson (born Apr-Jun 1985, London Borough of Islington) is an English composer, singer, songwriter and cellist. Her notable performances include opening for the MOBO Awards "Pre-Show" in 2016, and playing the Royal Albert Ha ...
(on cello and vocals), Ebony Steel Pan Orchestra player Samuel Dubois and electric/acoustic guitarist
Femi Temowo
Femi Temowo (born 15 September 1976) is a Nigerian-born British jazz guitarist, musical director, producer, and broadcaster.
Career
Temowo was born in 1976 in Akure
Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the capital and largest c ...
(known for his work with
Soweto Kinch
Soweto Kinch (born 10 January 1978) is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper.
Biography
Born in 1978 in London, England, to a Barbadian father, playwright Don Kinch, and British-Jamaican actress Yvette Harris, Soweto Kinch began playin ...
), as well as Cuban electric violinist
Omar Puente. The concert was recorded for a live Courtney Pine Afropean Jazz Warriors album, also called ''Afropeans'' (Destin-e Records, 2008).
The Jazz Warriors International
In 2011, a new Jazz Warriors International organisation was formed by some members of the original Jazz Warriors, embracing the historic legacy of the original group.
Tomorrow's Warriors
In 1991, the original Jazz Warriors double-bassist, Gary Crosby, established
Tomorrow's Warriors, an organisation to nurture and develop talented young jazz musicians wishing to pursue a professional career in jazz.
"About"
Tomorrow's Warriors.
Discography
* ''Out of Many, One People'', 1987
Notes
References
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{{Authority control
British jazz ensembles
Musical groups from London
Musical groups established in 1986
Musical groups disestablished in 1994
Musical groups reestablished in 2020