Tomorrow’s New Quartet were born out of the depths of lockdown. The music was composed in the latter half of 2020 by drummer Rod Oughton, and rehearsed at irregular intervals throughout the spring months of the following year.

Rod is a British jazz drummer/composer who is currently based in Amsterdam. He has worked with the James Taylor Quartet, Hailey Tuck and Hudson Taylor, and has performed in Cuba, Dubai and Saudi Arabia as well as all over the UK and Europe.

Rod continues: “The band is named ‘Tomorrow’s New Quartet’ as it embodies the optimism of composing this music and arranging the recording of this album. The band’s line up comprises of George Crowley Deschanel Gordon, Flo Mooreand myself. These guys are some of my favourite musicians to play with and I felt super lucky that they agreed to get involved and continued to contribute so much to the project.”

George Crowley

George Crowley is a saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and promoter based in London. Since his arrival in the capital in 2007, Crowley has steadily established himself as a key player within the city’s burgeoning creative jazz and improv scene, and increasingly well known further afield, performing across the UK and Europe.

As a performer he is active across a range of styles; whether infusing melodic through-composed writing with open, searching improv in his own Can of Worms, channelling fiery avant-parade ghosts in Brass Mask, weaving through the polyrhythmic Ghanaian trance of Vula Viel or exploring more traditional repertoire, Crowley’s energy and expressive, warm saxophone sound mark him out as a musician who demands attention.

Deschanel Gordon

Concerning his extended relationship with Ubuntu Music, Rod elaborates: “I’m really happy to release this album on Ubuntu. Martin’s help with the debut OK Aurora release (‘Only In Autumn’) was invaluable and I feel very lucky that he is involved with this release as well. I really feel as though Ubuntu is a force for good in UK Jazz, and the fact that they work just as hard for emerging artists as they do for their top talent is testament to this.”

Flo Moore

Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, shares his perspective: “It was a pleasure working with Rod on his OK Aurora release last year. When he approached me about Tomorrow’s New Quartet, it was a no-brainer. Helena, Deschanel and Flo have all appeared on previous Ubuntu releases. It’s an exceptional line-up and they delivered a fantastic record. These four are ones to watch.