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| Blake Wilner Quartet's Australian Tour The Blake Wilner Quartet is considered one of the most exciting, individualistic and innovative young jazz groups performing at the moment. The Australian Tour (June - July) is promoting their latest recording, Interloper, an exciting album of new music. The group features Blake Wilner on guitar, Brandon Allen on saxes, Ben VanderWal on drums and Sam Anning on bass. The quartet was featured on May's Jazzwise compilation CD of Cheltenham Jazz Festival artists, and its third album, The Reprieve, reached the finals of the Sony International Jazz Competition for independent recordings. Wilner was featured in a Jazz Review article entitled 'Ten musicians you must hear'. Wilner's compositions have many stylistic influences: swing, groove, minimalism and pop and feature arrangements of contemporary pieces by artists such as Bob Marley and Tom Waits. The quartet has been featured at such renowned festivals as the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the Greenwich Jazz Festival and the City of London Festival and has performed extensively throughout the UK. Blake Wilner was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1973. He has a Certificate of Music from both the Australian Institute of Music, and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and an Associate Degree of Music for jazz performance from WAAPA. Before moving to the UK, Wilner spent time in New York where studied with jazz greats Rufus Reid, Richie De Rosa, Mick Goodrick, Kenny Wessell and Jeff Ciampa. His time in New York inspired his 2000 album of original compositions, A Thought of NYU. Wilner's second album, The Bookshop, was released in 2002 and featured music composed whilst living in London. In 2003 and 2004 he led the quartet on highly acclaimed Arts Council of England sponsored tours of the UK, the second of which promoted the UK release of his third recording, The Reprieve. His third UK tour is scheduled for November 2006. In 2005, Wilner performed extensively as a freelance musician and made a return visit for two months to New York. In 2004 he was a finalist in the Jerwood/ PRS Foundation Initiative and in APRAs PDAs. He holds teaching positions at the London Contemporary College of Music, Kingston University and the Blackheath Conservatoire. Brandon Allen is a saxophonist/flautist/composer, originally from Australia but now resident in London. He has worked extensively in the jazz, pop, RandB, funk, modern classical and dance idioms as well as working as a session player for commercial music and films. Allen has performed at various jazz festivals including the Isle of Wight, Reading, Southport, Copenhagen Jazz Festival and The Terrassa Jazz Festival in Spain. As well as the Blake Wilner Quartet, Allen is currently a member of the Guy Barker Group and Dylan Howes 5 Corners. He has performed extensively throughout Europe. Sam Anning is regarded as one of the top bassists in Australia. He won the 'Toyota Music scholarship' and was twice finalist in the 'James Morrison scholarship'. He has performed with many local, national and international Artists, including James Morrison, Joe Chindamo, Terell Stafford, Don Burrows, Ingrid Jensen, Graham Collier, Graeme Lyall, Chris Cheek, Sheila Jordan and Jamie Oehlers. Ben VanderWal (Drumset, Percussion) graduated from the Western Australian Conservatorium of music (Bachelor of Performance) with Distinction in 1997. Here he was recipient of the Bob Wylie Scholarship, awarded to the most outstanding graduating student. He has performed internationally with jazz luminaries Sam Yahel, Mark Murphy, Kitty Margolis, Madeleine Peyroux, James Morrison, Ernie Watts, Dale Barlow, Ray Charles, Joe Chindamo, Graeme Lyall, Darius Brubeck and Andy Sheppard. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |