Julian Argüelles (born 28 January 1966) is an English jazz saxophonist. Coming to prominence in the 1980s and '90s with the ensemble

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 t ...

, Argüelles has worked extensively as a solo performer and with American and European musicians. His music combines British contemporary jazz infused with Spanish rhythms, South African grooves, brass band and classical influences. He was awarded a fellowship from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for his services to jazz in 2017 and received a Parliamentary Jazz Award (2016) for his album ''Let It Be Told''.

Life and career

Born in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

, Argüelles was raised in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. He is the younger brother of the jazz drummer Steve Argüelles. Argüelles started playing with big bands, including the European Community Big Band that toured throughout Europe. In 1984 he moved to London. He studied briefly at Trinity College of Music before joining

, staying with them for four years and recording two albums. In 1986 he received the Pat Smythe Award for young musicians. His first album, ''Phaedrus'', included pianist John Taylor. The second, ''Home Truths'', was a quartet which included

Steve Swallow Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar. ...

. ''As Above So Below'' was a large scale work for jazz and classical musicians with the 20 piece

Trinity College of Music 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 ...

String Ensemble. The album evolved from a commission that was performed in Saint Wendreda's Church in March, Cambridgeshire in the Fens. He was commissioned by

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

to write 60 minutes of music for an octet. It was performed and recorded at

Bath International Music Festival The Bath International Music Festival was held late each spring in Bath, South West England between 1948 and 2016. The festival included many genres such as Jazz, Classical, World and Folk and merged with the Bath Literature Festival in 2017 to c ...

in May 1996. The group toured and recorded the album ''Skull View'', released in 1997 by

Babel Label Babel Label is a jazz record label founded in 1994 by Oliver Weindling. It released more than 130 recordings in its first 20 years, two of which were nominated for the Mercury Prize. Formation Weindling was a banker in England in the 1980s wh ...

. His second octet album, ''Escapade'', was released by Provocateur. Argüelles has been commissioned to write and arrange for HR Frankfurt, Phronesis, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Apollo Saxophone Quartet, his octet (by Birmingham Jazz), Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra, Walsall Youth Jazz Orchestra, Fenland Youth Symphony Orchestra, North German Radio Big Band (NDR), and

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

. In 1999 he received the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Award from the U.S. He has worked with

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

, Tim Berne,

Hermeto Pascoal Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is a significant figure in the history of Brazilian music, mainly known for his abilities in orches ...

, John Abercrombie,

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

Chris McGregor Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa. Early influences McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Provin ...

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

, Mike Gibbs,

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist (although not known for his piano playing). Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, ...

Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 he met Gillespie, who became his f ...

, and

Giorgio Gaslini Giorgio Gaslini (; 22 October 1929 – 29 July 2014) was an Italian jazz pianist, composer and conductor. He began performing aged 13 and recorded with his jazz trio at 16. In the 1950s and 1960s, Gaslini performed with his own quartet. He was ...

. He was also a member of several big bands including The HR in Frankfurt,

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...

Big Band,

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented music ...

' Delightful Precipice, and

Colin Towns Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948 in West Ham, London) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, telev ...

' Mask Orchestra. He has taught at the KUG Jazz Institute in Graz, Austria, York University, Royal Academy of Music, and

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

. He has also taught at summer schools such as Glamorgan Jazz School, Edinburgh and Manchester summer schools, and the Royal Conservatory, Den Haag.

Discography

As leader

* ''Phaedrus'' (Ah Um, 1990) * ''Home Truths'' (Babel, 1995) * ''Scapes'' (Babel, 1996) * ''Skull View'' (Babel, 1997) * ''Escapade'' (Provocateur, 1999) * ''As Above So Below'' (Provocateur, 2003) * ''Partita'' (Basho, 2006) * ''Momenta'' (Basho, 2009) * ''Inner Voices'' (Tone of a Pitch, 2009) * ''Circularity'' (CAM Jazz, 2014) * ''Let It Be Told'' (Basho, 2015) * ''Tetra'' (Whirlwind, 2015) * ''The Behemoth'' (Edition, 2017) * ''Setembro'' (Edition, 2017) * ''Tonadas'' (Edition, 2018)

As sideman

With

* '' Summer Fruits (and Unrest)'' (JMT, 1993) * '' Winter Truce (and Homes Blaze)'' (JMT, 1995) With

* ''

Big Band Theory ''Big Band Theory'' is an album by the American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley, recorded and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1993.

'' (1993) * ''

The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church ''The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church'' is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in Perugia, Italy as part of the Umbria Jazz Festival and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1996.Andy Sheppard Andy Sheppard (born 20 January 1957) is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, ...

* ''

Rhythm Method Calendar-based methods are various methods of estimating a woman's likelihood of fertility, based on a record of the length of previous menstrual cycles. Various methods are known as the Knaus–Ogino method and the rhythm method. The standard day ...

'' (Blue Note International, 1993) With

* ''Delightful Precipice'' (1986) * ''

Open Letter An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...

'' (1988) With

* ''The Long Waiting'' (2012) With Samo Salamon * ''Nano'' (Goga, 2006) * ''Unity'' (Samo Records, 2016) * ''The Colours Suite'' (Clean Feed Records, 2017)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arguelles, Julian 1966 births Living people People from Lichfield 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century saxophonists British male saxophonists English jazz composers English jazz saxophonists English male composers Jazz baritone saxophonists Jazz soprano saxophonists Jazz tenor saxophonists Male jazz composers Delightful Precipice members Human Chain members Loose Tubes members National Youth Jazz Orchestra members Edition Records artists Basho Records artists