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Thursday evening 8 February @Seven Arts.  Doors 7.30pm £16/14 (NUS £5)

Mark Lockheart saxophone/ bass clarinet; Liam Noble piano, Jasper Hoiby bass.

We welcome back this sophisticated, genre-bending trio delighted our audience when they last came to us. Mark Lockheart’ group is folky, playing melodically strong chamber music, with flavours ranging from bluegrass to tango to contemporary classical, veering from the carefully written to the liberally improvised.

Malija was formed in 2014 as a result of an invitation to play at the Rochester International Jazz Festival in New York. All highly respected and innovative bandleaders in their own right, this all-star trio brings together three of the most exciting and original jazz musicians/composers in the UK.

Their first collaboration was back in 2009, when the three musicians recorded and toured with Mark Lockheart’s acclaimed album ‘In Deep’, a record that brought these three musicians together as part of a quintet. Since then, each of them has developed a huge mutual respect and friendship, that to form a trio seemed the most logical and natural next step. Their latest album “Instinct” was released in September 2017 and the group will feature music from it at this gig.
Mark Lockheart (saxophones/bass clarinet) – first came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the influential big band Loose Tubes. In 1992 Mark formed the eclectic co-led quartet Perfect Houseplants, a group that released six albums and collaborated with classical artists such as the Orlando Consort, Andrew Manze and Pamela Thorby.

Mark has toured and recorded with many artists from the jazz, folk and pop world including: Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, June Tabor, Mark Anthony Turnage, Orlando Consort, John Pattitucci, Peter Erskine, Robert Wyatt, Don Um Romao, Jah Wobble, Thomas Dolby and Radiohead.

In 2003 Mark joined Seb Rochford’s Polar Bear, which has recorded six ground-breaking albums. The band’s second CD, ‘Held On The Tips Of Fingers,’ was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Award and later appeared in Jazzwise’s ‘100 Albums That Shook the World.’ In 2009 Mark released his influential ‘In Deep’ album (Edition Records). The Manchester Evening News gave it five stars and said it was “the key record of the second golden age of British jazz.” In 2010 Mark was awarded APPJC Parliamentary Jazz Musician of the Year and released his first big band album ‘Days Like These’ with the Hamburg- based NDR big band. In 2013 Mark’s ‘Ellington In Anticipation’ was released to critical acclaim with BBC Music Magazine describing it as “Ellington for the 21st Century” and MOJO listing it as the best jazz album of 2013”

Liam Noble (piano) has worked towards developing a personal style formed from his experience of playing everything from standards, new composition, free improvisation and, most recently, electronics. His CD releases include “Close Your Eyes” (1994), “In The Meantime” (2001), “Romance Among The Fishes” (2004) and “Brubeck” (2007). In addition to his own projects, he has regular associations with saxophonists Julian Siegel and Bobby Wellins, singer Christine Tobin and the improvising trio “Sleepthief” with Tom Rainey and Ingrid Laubrock.

Copenhagen-born, London-based bassist Jasper Høiby created the trio Phronesis in 2005, which has since gone on to win awards for ‘Jazz Album of the Year’ in Jazzwise and MOJO Magazines 2010 (Alive, Edition 2010) as well as a London Jazz Award for their Pitch Black performance at Brecon Jazz Festival, 2012.
Since moving to London in 2000, Jasper has been an active part of the UK jazz scene and appeared in collaborations with numerous artists. Since finishing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in 2004 he has performed and recorded with a number of original artists, including, Django Bates, Shai Maestro, Julian Joseph, Kurt Elling, Tom Arthurs, Mark Lockheart, Julia Biel, Marius Neset, Kairos 4tet, Jim Hart, Ivo Neame. He maintains a busy touring schedule both as a bandleader and sideman. He has appeared in Sheffield at the Crucible Studio both with Malija and with his other band, Fellow Creatures,

Here’s a little teaser video from their new album: youtu.be/IKEGGmh0HxA and a whole tune youtu.be/gp59f7O5Uuo

“Malija know all about rhythm, and from many perspectives. Saxophonist Mark Lockheart is a cornerstone for subtle groovers Polar Bear, bassist Jasper Høiby a powerhouse in the dynamic Anglo-Scandinavian trio Phronesis, and Liam Noble a pianist who’s fluent in styles from bebop to funk. Last autumn, they released their debut album “The Day I Had Everything”, its title reflected in an idiomatic sweep taking in blues, bluegrass, tango, the sophisticated swing of Duke Ellington and Earl Hines, and the quirky lyricism of Wayne Shorter” Guardian preview of the gig – 26-3-16
Highly respected, innovative bandleaders in their own right, Malija combines three of the UK’s most exciting jazz musicians – original music with influences from bluegrass, tango and jungle grooves. Høiby described it as “weird, simple, complicated, free, tight, floaty, ugly, beautiful and heartfelt depending on your mood”.

www.marklockheart.co.uk/

Support is from: Ricardo Alvarez Quartet 8-8.30pm Ricardo Alvarez Quartet playing from their new album ‘Huay Not?’ Ricardo Alvarez on tenor saxophone/compositions, Cornelius Corkery on guitar, Emlyn Vaughn on bass and Joe Montague on drums.

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