Jack Davies :: projects

The Jack Davies Big Band is the large ensemble outlet for director Jack Davies' relentless compositional drive.

The band's debut album will be released in 2012, produced by Colin Towns. (NDR Big Band, Mask Orchestra)

Influenced by the tradition of great innovative British big bands, The Jack Davies Big Band draws on the raucous power of Colin Towns' Mask Orchestra, the lyrical melancholy of Kenny Wheeler and the boundary-pushing work of Loose Tubes.

With a lineup of London's finest contemporary jazz musicians, the band features Martin Speake (ECM Records), Mike Chillingworth, Joe Wright and Josh Arcoleo (Kit Downes Sextet, Kenny Wheeler Prize winner) on saxophones, trumpeters Percy Pursglove and Nick Smart (Kenny Wheeler), and a rhythm section including Alex Munk on guitar and James Opstad on bass.

This is big band music which retains the energy and individualism of Duke Ellington, but is infused with the powerful and uncompromising aesthetic of contemporary jazz.

"Jack Davies is producing a very strong and inventive body of work, and he's only just begun."
- COLIN TOWNS

"An impressive mix of virtuosity and attitude."
- TIME OUT

"An 18-piece outfit which seamlessly and winningly combines the jazz tradition with the work of contemporary-classical composers. [...]It is a line-up which glitters with individual talent and Davies has welded it into a tight and precise unit.
- CHRIS MAY, ALL ABOUT JAZZ

Jack Davies (trumpet), Rob Cope (bass clarinet), Aidan Shepherd (accordion) and James Opstad (bass).

In stark contrast to much of the electrified music being made today, Flea Circus is an entirely acoustic chamber group.

With a dark, nocturnal sound, Flea Circus draws on the canon of European jazz and contemporary music, and fuses composition and improvisation.

Following concerts at LSO St Luke's and a broadcast from The BBC Proms for BBC Radio 3, the self-titled debut album will be available from April 2012.

"This is a thoroughly absorbing, thoughtful and lively set from a subtly interactive and accomplished band."
- CHRIS PARKER, LONDONJAZZ

Jack Davies (trumpet), Rob Cope (tenor saxophone), Tom Taylor (piano), and Jon Ormston (drums).

Southbound are four musicians who combine classical subtleties with the creative energy of contemporary jazz.

Sharing a love of the both the classical and jazz traditions, this bassless quartet are continually surprising - at one moment unboundedly explorative, and the next powerfully grounded.

With a compositional assurance and pianissimo control that makes clear their classical influence, Southbound draw on the angular melodies of Tim Berne, and are driven by the constant creativity that marks out US composer / trumpeter Dave Douglas.

Recent gigs have included capacity shows at jazz festivals in Manchester, London and Kongsberg (Norway) as well as a broadcast for BBC Radio 3's Jazz Line Up from the Southport Jazz Festival.

"This bassless quartet had a sound of such clarity and self assurance that it was hard not to be impressed."
- CHRIS ACKERLEY, THE SOUND OF NOW

"Relentless energy coupled with a rigorous sense of the tradition and magnificent mind for melody."
- SANDBAR JAZZ

- "Immaculate contemporary jazz."
- OXFORDBANDS.CO.UK

Jack Davies (trumpet), George Crowley (tenor saxophone), Tom Taylor (piano), James Opstad (bass) and Dave Hamblett (drums).

The quintet speaks of leader Jack Davies' love of the exploraratory power of late Miles Davis and the driving, lyrical music of Dave Douglas. With a repertoire of original compositions, The Jack Davies Quintet maintain a clear sense of the jazz tradition, whilst drawing on a range of contemporary influences.

The melodic improvising of Jack Davies' trumpet and George Crowley's muscular tenor is underpinned by inventive pianist Tom Taylor, bassist James Opstad and the driving rhythmic virtuosity of drummer Dave Hamblett.