Workshops

Friday 24th August- Young Musicians' Day!

	Our thanks to Toni Kofi and Claude Deppa, who were so patient and great fun, exuding enthusiasm for their art. Aberjazz is to be congratulated on a great weekend.
	K Howells (workshop attendee 2006)

Byron Wallen

www.byronwallen.com

Think Miles Davis. Say BYRON WALLEN!!

Raised in a musical environment, Byron studied classical piano from an early age. He also studied trumpet with Jimmy Owens, Donald Byrd and Jon Faddis in New York. He studied and graduated with a degree in Psychology, Philosophy and Maths from Sussex University. During this period, he recorded for Loose Ends and Cleveland Watkiss and played trumpet in a variety of musical settings; with Mervyn Africa, The Style Council, Charles Earland, Courtney Pine and Jean Toussaint. Byron is one of the most dynamic and versatile jazz voices currently on the British scene. A powerful composer, his intuitive and spiritual leaning shine through his playing. The world premiere of his famous 'Tarot Suite' received rave reviews from the British press with Byron being heralded as 'The most interesting new explorer of Miles Davis' legacy" (The Guardian).

Byron has taught in a wide variety of contexts: Primary, Secondary, Further Education, Inclusive, Special Needs (Emotional and Behavioural difficulties). He has also developed into a fine workshop tutor through many primary and secondary school sessions. He also lectures at Trinity college and provides private tuition at the Royal Academy. Byron runs his own independent workshops in traditional music of the world -focusing on Indonesian, East and Central African traditional music, jazz and composition. During his travels to Zimbabwe, Syria, South Africa, The Czech Republic, he led workshops in improvisational techniques and composition.

Some of Byron's Reviews:

"Powerful, beautifully performed, touching and astonishingly varied album ... Superb and challenging from start to finish" - ECHOES

"A key mover and shaker in the generation of London jazz based talent." - TIME OUT

"An ambitious and formidably skilful debut" - THE GUARDIAN

'Byron tackles areas of music only the extremely talented can venture into. This is world jazz of the highest quality, an exceptional piece and one to Expand with." - TOUCH

Tony Kofi

www.tonykofi.com
www.myspace.com/tonykofi

Best Ensemble at the 2005 Parliamentary Jazz Awards
BBC Radio 3 Jazz Awards Line up album of the year 2005

"Music must serve a purpose; it must be part of something larger than itself, a part of humanity." Pablo Casals

Born in Nottingham to West African parents, the playing career of saxophonist Tony Kofi began when he chanced upon a series of jazz workshops, run in Leicester by Nick Hislam. Tony was bitten by the jazz bug and made a point of making the journey to go along to each session. This laid the seeds for what was to come, and a stint at the legendary Berklee College of Music in Boston Mass. USA, on a full scholarship.

Hey carmen...I really enjoyed the festival...Love TK. x
Musician and workshop leader, Tony Kofi

Reviews:

`There is so much respect in jazz circles for Tony Kofi. Now at long last we can hear him on record.' – TONY HALL Jazzwise

`AMPLE PROOF, if proof be needed, that good contemporary modern jazz can be found alive and well in a programme that features compositions from that "bygone era" by a master composer, whilst sounding completely of today.. NICK LEA, Editor-in-Chief Jazz Reviews

'UK jazz at the best...' – JACK KENNY, CD Reviews

Cleveland Watkiss

www.clevelandwatkiss.com

And the wonderful CLEVELAND WATKISS does his own intro:

Workshop/masterclasses

I would like to introduce myself, my name is Cleveland Watkiss! Singer, Songwriter, Improvisor and Vocal Coach from the East End of London. I am also an international Recording Artist who has performed in all the major concert halls and clubs around the world.  I have recorded 4 solo albums and have experience in working with many top artists including Stevie Wonder, The Who, Pete Townshend, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Courtney Pine, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Byron Wallen.

Education and Training

• Studied the Voice Privately at London School Of Singing with Opera singer Arnold Rose.
• Studied voice, guitar, piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
• I have a keen interest in acting and have studied with the renowned USA actor Ray Shell. I took the lead role in the European production of the musical Hair!
• At present a Partime Lecturer at the University Of  Westminister in Harrow.

Scheme of work:

I would like to offer Workshop Master Classes for Vocal Improvisation With singers, poets, rappers, public speakers.

Summary:

Classes are for all stages: Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced.

And all age groups!

Cleveland's One Day Master Class:

• Group singing and improvising.
• Discussion on posture, breathing, projection.
• A more in depth look at my techniques for unlocking and freeing the voice, learning how to control being nervous, group improvisation.

'Its my personal belief that given the right kind of encouragement we can all Sing! Singing is not learned, its a gift we're given. Sometimes that gift may get suppressed through bad teaching or discouraging words. My job is to give you keys to unlock the song within you'...Cleveland Watkiss 2007.

2007 will see the start of 'Solo Voice' Touring From Three Times Wire/Guardian Jazz Awards Winner CLEVELAND WATKISS.

CLEVELAND's 6pm Concert at Theatr Gwaun Saturday 25th August is not to be missed!

Cleveland Watkiss can switch effortlessly from lead to bass lines, falsetto scats, human beat box and has a breathtaking vocal range that makes seamless links between musical cultures, Cleveland blends improvisation/Counter point harmony, electronics, breakbeat loops and basslines (all live and from his mouth) to stunning effect.

Voted Wire/Guardian  Jazz  Awards best vocalist for three consecutive years Cleveland continues to perform in many of the major concert halls, festivals and clubs around the world.

'CLEVELAND WATKISS' PRESS QUOTES:

'Best male jazz singer in Britain' Evening standard

'Watkiss has been acknowledged as one of the worlds most outstanding male jazz singers' The Guardian

"Cleveland Watkiss spun some ecstatic variations on a Chopin prelude that had us all spellbound" Telegraph

'An original work from a unique British talent' Blues & Soul

'Every song counts..a joyous outrageous exercise in complex simplicity' The Guardian

Along with Courtney Pine, singer Cleveland Watkiss formed the jazz warriors and went on to top innumerable jazz singer of the year polls 'Classy stuff' The Big Issue

"Cleveland is one of the most amazing people I have worked with. He is an innovator who is finally bringing all his repetoires singer/SongWriter, player, DJ, MC, into the frame. He'll stimulate and intrigue and ultimately entertain!" Talvin Singh.

Llew Jones

www.myspace.com/yagdag

Our Local Hero: Llew Jones, Youth Leader and Rap Artist Extraordinaire!

Llew the "Lion" is a British MC from West Wales. Born in 1980 he has been rapping both for the love of it and for the money since 1996.

Genre wise its an open book, past appearances have included shows with a folk hip hop fusion band, straight two turntables and microphone sets, hip hop, drum and bass, dance hall, jazz..what ever...diversity is the key! If he feels the sound, he'll do it.

Felix Gibbons Percussion

www.globalmusicfoundation.org/people.html#FG

Samba Drumming Workshop

Felix Gibbons has been playing percussion for over 20 years now, doing everything from samba and salsa to bhangra and pop with everyone from Milton Nascimento, to Peter Gabriel. Over the years he’s had the opportunity of playing alongside an array of top Brazilian pop artists like Gilberto Gil, Daniela Mercury, and some of the great samba stars like Jair Rodrigues and Martinho da Vila. He has also played with Giovanni Hidalgo, Danilo Perez, Edsel Gomez, Horacio `El Negro` Fernandez. His Percussion workshops mainly concentrate on Afro-Brazilian rhythms, especially carnival rhythms from all over Brazil and also contextualised technique for the Salsa instruments Conga, Bongo, Timbales, Guiro, Clave and Maraca.

Felix has recently returned from Rio, Brazil, where he previously lived for 8 years. He and a friend have been setting up a music school for street children out there! Felix plays with several bands including the Brazilian Jazz dance band we had at the festival last year, 'Sirius B', and runs exciting drumming workshops all over the world for The Global Music Foundation- see website address below.