Few musicians have led a life and career as prolific and varied as the great Jean Toussaint. Born in Aruba and raised in Saint Thomas, Jean’s introduction to music came through playing calypso as a child, before moving to New York and being drawn to the city’s celebrated jazz scene. In 1982, he joined the world-class hot-house that was Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, launching himself in to the international spotlight and rapidly maturing as a distinctive voice as a saxophonist and composer. Following his years with Blakey, Jean remained in NYC, working with the biggest names in the world of jazz, including McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans, Horace Silver, Cedar Walton and Wynton Marsalis to name but a few.

In 1987, Jean uprooted and moved to London, where he had been making close music friendships with many musicians, whilst passing through on tour – “’I met Cleveland and Trevor Watkiss, Steve Williamson and Julian Joseph. Being of Caribbean descent myself, I saw similarities in the blend of musical influences – jazz, African, calypso and reggae.” Jean has been based in London since, continuing to work on the global stage, releasing numerous critically acclaimed albums, and collaborating with the country’s foremost creative musicians, including Courtney Pine, Byron Wallen and Jason Rebello.

Following the great lineage of Art Blakey, for this special concert, Jean has handpicked a band of rising stars from a new generation of jazz musicians in London, featuring Hugh Pascall on trumpet, Emile Hinton on piano, Conor Murray on bass and Ben Brown on drums.