Artist Information

Piano – Jason Rebello

Celebrated British jazz pianist Jason Rebello was labelled a veteran by critics at the age of 19 and over the next decade he won most of the major jazz music awards.

“At 21, he’s probably the most gifted and fluent pianist to emerge in Britain since Django Bates.”
Neville Hadsley, Jazz FM

Classically trained but inspired by Herbie Hancock, he soon came to the attention of one of the founders of jazz fusion – Weather Report’s saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Impressed by his musical fluency and style, Shorter produced Jason’s #1 debut album ‘A Clearer View’ (Novus – 1990).

Jason chose to self-produce his second album ‘Keeping Time’ (Novus – 1993) which featured a host of musical friends including American soul diva Jocelyn Brown and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

Jason undertook a gruelling schedule promoting his own band across the UK and Europe as well as appearing with notable artists including Bud Shank, Wayne Shorter, Gary Burton, Branford Marsalis, Tommy Smith, Jean Toussaint, Des’ree, Mica Paris, Carleen Anderson and Omar. He also performed several classical concerts with the Nice Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé
Orchestra.

‘Make It Real’ (RCA – 1994) followed and is Jason’s best-selling album to date. A heady mix of jazz, latin, soul and hip-hop featuring the vocal talents of Maysa Leak, Joy Rose, Cleveland Watkiss and Faithless rapper Maxi Jazz. An inspirational re-working of Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ received much radio play and was voted a ‘KISS Classic’ by KISS Radio.

Following a sell-out UK tour and many European festival dates, The British Council sponsored a tour of Brazil. The musical partnering of Jason with Joy Rose produced a further album of just piano and voice – ‘Last Dance’ (All That Records – 1995).

In 1999 Jason travelled to New York to record ‘Next Time Round’ (Onion – 1999) with his trio featuring Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and the talented British bassist Orlando Le Fleming. The album was a return to acoustic jazz. In The Times, Chris Parker wrote “…no one has ever doubted that Rebello is possessed of a great pianistic gift.”

Following the untimely death in 1998 of piano legend and personal hero Kenny Kirkland, Jason was invited by Sting to take his seat in the band recording on Sting’s Grammy-winning studio album ‘Brand New Day’ (A&M – 1999) and his 7th studio album ‘Sacred Love’ (A&M – 2003). He toured the world as part of Sting’s band for 6 years and on the night of September 11 2001, Jason recorded the live DVD and CD ‘All This Time’ (A&M – 2001) at Sting’s home in Tuscany in front of an audience of selected fans.

It was through an introduction from Sting that Jason met guitar legend Jeff Beck. Beck was looking for a new keyboard player to follow Jan Hammer. He was keen to recruit Jason whose keyboard skills and musical versatility complemented Beck’s love of improvisation and experimentation in the world of fusion.

Jason once again toured the world, this time as part of Jeff Beck’s band for 6 years, working together with him on his 2010 studio album ‘Emotion & Commotion’ (Atco – 2010) and also as co-writer on the single ‘Hammerhead’ (Atco – 2010) which went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2011 and was voted a ‘Rock Classic’ by Planet Rock Radio.

Technique, diversity and adaptability have enabled Jason to work with artists across the musical spectrum such as Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Pee Wee Ellis, Joss Stone, Madeline Peyroux, Manu Katché and more recently Charlene Soraia.

In 2103 Jason released ‘Anything But Look’ (Lyte Records) and his latest solo piano CD ‘Held’ (Edition Records – 2016) won best new CD in the 2016 British Jazz Awards. Jason continues to teach music – lecturing at various schools and music colleges including The Guildhall School of Music and Bath Spa University. He also helped to set up the Jazz Factory at the Wiltshire Music Centre and the successful musical workshop-based project The Jazz Rainbow.

“In terms of sheer ability and potential, Jason is probably the finest young jazz musician this country has produced.”
Stuart Nicholson (Author and Journalist) ‘Jazz: The Modern Resurgence’

Drums – Jeremy Stacey

Jeremy Stacey is a highly acclaimed British drummer and keyboard player with an impressive list of big name credits. From pop, rock, funk, classical and all-out jazz – as far afield as Eric Clapton, Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams to Andrea Bocelli, Tim Garland and Patricia Kaas, Jeremy is one of the world’s most sought-after session drummers.

He grew up with his twin brother Paul in Poole, Dorset on the south coast of the UK. He played piano from an early age and later started to learn drums – moving up to London to attend acting school by day and play drums in the vibrant London jazz club scene by night.

In 1993, Jeremy became part of the UK pop band The Lemon Trees set up by keyboardist and songwriter Guy Chambers along with his brother Paul Stacey and others. By 1995 the band members went their separate ways and Jeremy joined American singer songwriter Sheryl Crow with whom he played drums on tour and in the studio for for the next 10 years.

In 2009, he joined Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – an English rock band set up by the ex-Oasis frontman. Jeremy spent over 5 years touring and recording with the band before getting a call from King Crimson drummer Gavin Harrison asking him if he would be interested in standing in for Bill Rieflin as one of the 3 drummers in the progressive rock band. ‘It was something I had to do!’ Jeremy told Tobias Miorin for the drummers’ site MikeDolbear.com “…they needed someone who could play drums and keyboards.” In 2016 Jeremy became a permanent member of the band.

Jeremy has recorded/toured with many international artists including Ryan Adams, Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, Joe Cocker, Eurythmics, Sia, Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry, Tori Amos, Robbie Williams, Take That, Chris Squire, Steve Hackett, Neneh Cherry, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Waterboys…to name just a few.

Jeremy proudly endorses Tama Drums, Istanbul Cymbals, Remo Drumheads and Vic Firth Sticks.

Tenor Sax – Patrick Clahar

London-based Patrick Clahar is a leading contemporary saxophonist who gained worldwide recognition as the sax player with Bill Bruford’s Earthworks and the British acid jazz band Incognito.

His tenor sax sound is without equal: a powerful and modern post-Coltrane performance tempered with a strong sense of melodic improvisation influenced by the great American saxophonist Sonny Rollins.

Among many others, Patrick has also recorded and toured with the Jazz Warriors, Jazz Jamaica, the Julian Joseph All Star Big Band, Julian Joseph and Jason Rebello quartets, London Metropolitan Orchestra, Lou Reed, Stevie Wonder, Basia, Jocelyn Brown, James Brown, Dina Carroll, Des’ree, Mica Paris, Lulu, Sister Sledge, Omar, Pete Townshend, Dave Stewart and Carleen Anderson.

Bass – Geoff Gascoyne

UK bassist, composer and producer Geoff Gascoyne is a hugely accomplished name in world jazz and pop having performed on over 100 albums with the likes of Sting, Van Morrison and Georgie Fame.

As a bassist, arranger and producer, Geoff has worked with a diverse range of artists including Michel Legrand, Everything But the Girl, Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Sir Willard White, US3, Sting, Charlie Watts, Benny Golson, Bill Bruford, Jacqui Dankworth, Bob Dorough, Mari Wilson, Eddie Izzard, The Mingus Big Band, Peter King Quartet, John Martyn, Dianne Reeves, Guy Barker, Claire Martin, Eartha Kitt and he played a major role in the rise of Jamie Cullum with whom he worked exclusively from 2000 to 2007 as Musical Director.

In the last decade, Geoff has focussed much more on music production work. As well as producing albums for Jacqui Dankworth, Jamie Cullum, Josh Kyle and San2 and his Soul Patrol, he has composed music for a series of library recordings for the legendary KPM label. He is also professor of Jazz Bass at the Guildhall School.

Producer – Geoff Gascoyne