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Jean Toussaint
@ the 606 Club @ the Pizza Expres Jazz Club
1 February 2007, 15 November 2008 & 5 February 2009
Click an image to enlarge.
Biography
In 1979, Toussaint played with hard bop trumpeter Wallace Roney
and in 1982 he set off for New York to join Art Blakey’s Jazz
Messengers.
Toussaint also worked with Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner and Gil
Evans, and regularly led the jam session at New York’s Blue
Note club.
Touring extensively with the Messengers, he always looked forward
to London where he made friends amongst some of the capital’s
young jazz musicians. He explains:
“In those early days I met Cleveland and Trevor Watkiss,
Steve Williamson, Courtney Pine and Julian Joseph.”
In 1987, after leaving the Messengers, Toussaint accepted an invitation
from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to teach improvisation
for three months. Toussaint decided to stay in the UK, and now works
extensively in Europe and the US with his own bands, The Jean Toussaint
Quartet (straight-ahead, acoustic jazz) and Nazaire (funky, dancey,
electric jazz).
In the last few years, he has toured Europe with Max Roach, joined
Cedar Walton for a fortnight at Ronnie Scott's, and worked with
the likes of Horace Silver, Troy Miller, Cleveland and Trevor Watkiss,
Julian Joseph, Bheki Mseleku, Jason Rebello and Tony Remy to name
a few.
In 1997, with a commission from the Arts Council, he toured the
UK with old friends Mulgrew Miller, Terence Blanchard and Reginald
Veal.
Toussaint has appeared regularly on television arts programmes
including BBC2’s The Late Show, 01 for London, and Channel
4’s Jazz Heroes series.
As well as part-time teaching jazz theory and improvisation at
the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Toussaint is a regular
tutor on the Northern Ireland Arts Council-run summer school, and
at the Guildhall Summer School. He also leads workshops at arts
centres, schools and colleges in conjunction with concerts.
Musicians:
Jean Toussaint - saxophone
Troy Miller - drums
Andrew McCormack - piano
Larry Bartley - bass
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