Alabaster Tongue
presents
Trevor Watts (UK improv saxophonist, mem. of Spontaneous Music Ensemble/Amalgam)
An innovator on the UK & World Music scenes, Trevor Watts formed part of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Amalgam groups in the 1960s & early ’70s, which developed their own languages within free improvisation and jazz. The methods these musicians developed have now permanently entered the language of that music worldwide.
Trevor started to experiment with more rhythmic and melodic musical ideas around 1980 and formed his original 10-piece Moire Music Group and also Trevor Watts’ Drum Orchestra in 1982. The Drum Orchestra was a blend of African and European musicians, and they toured many countries in the world over many years including the USA (San Francisco Jazz Festival/Monterey Jazz Festival/Chicago World Music Festival/Washington D.C. July 4th Festival and many more), Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Sarawak, India, Burma, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Azores Islands, Jamaica, Trinidad, St Lucia, Bahamas and all of Europe. Since those days Trevor has studied rhythm in great depth and has always put his discoveries to use within his own musical styles.
Currently Trevor is playing in duo form with pianist Veryan Weston. Trevor will be part of a project in Burkina Faso in Africa in Dec 2010, which will include Moroccan Gnawa musicians, European horn players led by Luc Mishalle and African drummers led by master drummer Adama Drame. Trevor will be one of the contributers of some music for this. The project is called “11 SONGS.”
Trevor has played with Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Bobby Bradford, Djembe master Adame Drame from Burkina Faso, Stan Tracey, Tubby Hayes, Phil Seaman, Tony Oxley, London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Long John Baldry, Steve Swallow, SonnyBoy Williamson, to name an illustrious few.
Veryan Weston (UK improv pianist, Matchless/Leo/Ogun/Acta)
Veryan Weston is best known for his work with such British avant-garde musicians as vocalist Phil Minton and saxophonist Lol Coxhill. He moved from Cornwall to London at the age of 22, where he began working as a freelance jazz pianist. In 1975, he received a fellowship from the Digswell Arts Trust in Hertfordshire which allowed him to revise a book he’d written on piano improvisation. While at Digswell, he co-founded and composed for the group Stinky Winkles (which also included saxophonist Simon Picard), and collaborated with potter Liz Fritsch and visual artist Stephen Cochrane. He also composed and performed music for film, the most notable being his work with Lol Coxhill on director Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio (1985). Weston’s interest in multi-media presentations led him to earn a degree in performance art from Middlesex University. He also earned a master’s degree in music composition from Goldsmith’s College University in London. In the ’80s and ’90s, Weston worked with the Eddie Prevost Quartet and Trevor Watts’ Moire Music, and in duos with Minton and Coxhill. Weston has recorded for the Matchless, Acta, Ogun, and Leo labels, among others. In addition to being a prominent free jazz-oriented musician, Weston is also an accomplished mainstream jazz pianist.
Admission is FREE