Jazz Jamaica plus special guests, Abram Wilson
& London Community Gospel Choir
@ Southbank Centre's / Royal Festival Hall
23 November 2007

Click an image to enlarge.

Biography

In 1991, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Jamaican music and the largely improvisational nature of jazz, original Jazz Warrior, and veteran jazz double bassist, Gary Crosby turned a musical concept into a joyful reality.

Cosby's concept was to create a quintessential fusion of mento, ska, reggae and jazz, playing classic and modern jazz standards alongside Jamaican folksongs. To achieve this, he gathered together a group of musicians drawn from the jazz and reggae circuits, each of whom is a distinguished musician in his own right. The result was Jazz Jamaica.

Over the next 8 years, Cosby successfully developed the Jazz Jamaica concept by introducing a stream of talented young jazz musicians, so increasing the size of the pool of Jazz Jamaicans, and enabling him to extend the boundaries of the music played. Collectively, Cosby and his musicians represent the finest exponents of this unique musical fusion known as skazz, a fusion loved and appreciated by everyone, of all ages and colours around the globe.

After recording four great albums with Jazz Jamaica, Cosby was ready to move to the next stage. In March 1999 he took his concept further by expanding the core line-up of Jazz Jamaica to formal big band status adding a raft of guest soloists. The result is the Jazz Jamaica All Stars, a 20-piece band featuring three generations of musicians of all colours between the ages of 24 and 72, drawn from diverse sectors of the jazz community. The line up features vocals, five saxophones, four trumpets, and four trombones with a rhythm section of double bass, piano, drums, guitar and percussion. Featured artists include Denys Baptiste, Andy Sheppard, Soweto Kinch, Juliet Roberts, Orphy Robinson, Guy Barker, Kevin Robinson, Ashley Slater, Annie Whitehead and Alex Wilson.

The music has its genesis in the London jazz scene of the 1940s and 1950s which embraced the music of the first generation of Caribbean immigrants, and there is a creative line that runs through free jazz pioneer Joe Harriott in the 1950s, via guitarist Ernest Ranglin's work in the 1960s, through the Jazz Warriors and saxophonist Courtney Pine in the 1980s, to today's generation.

Jazz Jamaica All Stars is the first formally structured big band to play this particular blend of jazz. They reflect the Caribbean music tradition and demonstrate in vibrant and exuberant form its massive contribution to a living, constantly changing jazz tradition.