ART THEMEN QUARTET
Art Themen Quartet
This quartet features a stalwart, legend and towering figure in the British Jazz scene, accompanied by three of the best musicians currently active in UK jazz.
Art Themen – Sax,
Huw Warren – Piano,
Riaan Vosloo – Bass,
Tony Orrell – Drums
Art Themen – Sax
Critic John Fordham of the Guardian has described him as “an appealing presence on the British jazz circuit for over 40 years….
Originally a Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins disciple … Themen has proved himself remarkably attentive to the saxophone styles of subsequent generations.”
Themen matriculated at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and it was there that he started playing jazz with the Cambridge University Jazz Band – with bandmates including Lionel Grigson, Dave Gelly, George Walden,Jonathan Lynn and John Hart – the group under pianist Grigson’s leadership achieving “near professional standard with a swinging hard-bop style that swept the board in the fiercely contested Inter-University Jazz Band Competitions”
He played with blues musicians Jack Bruce and Alexis Korner,[6] and was a member of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated.[7] Themen has said: ” Alexis, being heavily into blues as well as taking in jazz influences like Charles Mingus, furthered my knowledge of music quite a lot.”[7] In 1965, Themen played with the Peter Stuyvesant Jazz Orchestra in Zürich, going on to play with such English luminaries as Michael Garrick, Ian Carr, and Graham Collier‘s Music.[7]
In 1974, Themen entered on what was to be one of his central musical relationships when he started playing with Stan Tracey, and he has played with all of Tracey’s groups, touring with him all over the world as well as around the UK.
Themen has also played and toured with visiting US musicians, including Charlie Rouse, Nat Adderley, Red Rodney, George Coleman, and Al Haig.[5][7]
He was featured in a profile on composer Graham Collier in the 1985 Channel 4 documentary Hoarded Dreams
Huw Warren – Piano
Press/reviews
“one of the UK’s truly independent spirits” – The Guardian
“A European stylist of the highest order” – BBC Music Magazine
“one of the most lyrical pianists around and his playing is the most delicate and subtle imaginable” -John Potter
“soaring and elegant melodies borne aloft by rhapsodic textures” “an intimate, very special experience” Mike Collins London Jazz News
“Where the indescribable meets the unclassifiable” – Colin Irwin, Mojo
“One of the UK’s truly independent spirits” The Guardian
“A European stylist of the highest order” BBC Music Magazine
“a slow piece…Still Hearing You, possibly the most ravishing melody I have heard in my life” Miles Kington, The Independent
Riaan Vosloo – Double Bass
Currently a course Leader for MA Popular Music Practice at BIMM Bristol, Riaan is a Composer, Arranger, Band Leader and first-rate musician, who features in many of the bands in Bristol.
He is central to jazz in Bristol in each of those roles.
Tony Orrell – Drums
Orrell came to Bristol in 1973 in search of work as a drummer, where he primarily worked with local musicians between 1974 and 1980. He played with Rockin’ Robert and the Wild Beasts/Juan Footers, among others. From 1979 to 1989, he played in the modern jazz genre with the groups Spirit Level and Sphere , including Andy Sheppard . In 1982, he recorded with Spirit Level (with Dave Holdsworth , Paul Dunmall , Tim Richards , and Paul Ansley ) in London ( Mice in the Wallet ). Played in a trio with Gregory and Adrian Utley, later with San Ilya ( They Died for Beauty ), and as a session musician with the synth-pop duo Goldfrapp ( Felt Mountain , 1999). From the late 1980s he played in some of Paul Dunmall’s groups, featured on albums such as That’s My Life (with Paul Rogers ) [ 1 ] and Deep See (with Jim Barr).
In the 2000s, Orrell initiated the Movies + Shakers project in schools; he also played in a trio with Pat Thomas and Dominic Lash ( BleySchool , 2018). According to Tom Lord, he reportedly only participated in seven jazz recording sessions between 1982 and 2018. [ 2 ] Over the course of his career, Orrell has also played with musicians such as Elton Dean , Art Themen , Evan Parker , Keith Tippett , Larry Stabbins , Pete McPhail , Matthew Bourne , Jerry Dammers , Ray Russell , Eugene Chadbourne , Slim Gaillard , Marc Ribot , Trevor Watts , Charles Hazlewood , and Percy Pursglove . [ 3 ] In the 2020s, he performed in Bristol with his group Big Top (featuring two drummers) . [ 4 ]
Press/Reviews:
So what of the music? This reviewer would hail it as one of the best gigs of the year, an amazing modern jazz big band that combined very imaginative arrangements – principally from bass player/MC Riaan Voslooand multi-reed maestro Ross Hughes – with brilliant players who could bring their distinctive personalities to whatever was thrown at them. Comparisons (favourable!) were made with the seminal Loose Tubes collective, early Mike Westbrook big bands, the Sun Ra Arkestra … all ensembles that could provide a continuous stream of delicious moments thanks to the collective talents they contained.