THE hugely gifted pianist Gwilym Simcock is bringing his friends along to Southport this weekend for what promises to be a rare treat for the region’s jazz and classical fans.
Still under 30, Simcock was the first jazz musician to be named as BBC Radio 3’s "New Generation Artist", and he is also an imaginative composer who shifts almost effortlessly between his beloved jazz and classical music.
His debut album – Perception – was released last November and has been piled with laurels with one critic declaring it as "the best jazz release of the year".
Gwilym won last year’s musician of the year with the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and his commission for the Britten Sinfonia, Jackie’s Dance, premiered also last year at the London Jazz Festival.
He has an impressive formal education, which includes stints at the Trinity College of Music in London and at the equally distinguished Chetham’s School of Music down the road in Manchester, where actually he studied classical piano and French horn.
Later he studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music where he graduated from the jazz course with first class honours and the coveted "Principal's Prize" for outstanding achievement.
He reveals that his influences include jazz legends Jarrett, Chick Corea and John Taylor and much inspiration is taken from the classical world, especially the work of Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, as well as contemporary composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage, who fuse together written and improvised music.
Although principally a jazz artist, he’s constantly breaking new ground between genres and using classical reference points in his composed work – he recently devised a solo piano project using the piano works of Shostakovich as a starting point and in 2005 premiered a piano concerto written for him by Tim Garland.
His chums in Southport this weekend include Martin France on drums and Phil Donkin on bass, and later on in the concert he will team up with Stan Sulzmann on saxophone and John Parricelli on guitar.
They are both members of the innovative outfit Ordesa, led by the respected trumpet player Kenny Wheeler, who with his group will also feature on the bill.
* JAZZ Bill – Southport Arts Centre, Saturday, February 16, at 7.30pm. Tickets £15/£13. Box Office tel: 01704 540011.
