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Citing Gary’s nomination for the award, broadcaster and host Paul Gambaccini said:

“Gary has been making his mark as a jazz educator and bass player since 1991 when he formed the group ‘Tomorrow’s warriors’ as a platform for young musicians who want to pursue a career in jazz. The ethos is to encourage young people from all backgrounds but there is a positive move to encourage people of the African diaspora. Many women have come through the Warrior’s training bands and have now secured places at leading music colleges. Gary Crosby through his organisation and outstanding teaching has achieved in 20 years what many would think would take a lifetime in regards to ethnic minorities and gender imbalances.”

Crosby was unable to be at the Awards himself as he was attending his daughter’s school dance showcase in Camden and so Tomorrow’s Warriors Communications Director, Adam Sieff collected the award on his behalf. On receiving the news, Crosby responded:

“I believe it takes a community to develop a jazz musician and so, in this respect, I’m just one of many who contribute to the success of the young people I work with. Educating jazz musicians is our collective responsibility – individual music leaders, schools and colleges, youth orchestras and jam sessions, promoters and funders and, most importantly, audiences and other musicians. 

“I’m very happy and deeply honoured to be given this award, but slightly embarrassed as I consider Pete Churchill to be one of the country’s finest educators. I hope this won’t stop him hiring me in the future as I always learn so much from him!”

This prestigious award comes just days after Crosby’s young protégés beat off all-comers to win the Yamaha Jazz Experience ‘Jazz Ensemble Improvisation’ competition at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

The next major event in the calendar is Saturday 14 July when Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Jazz Orchestra appears in the Essentially Ellington Big Band programme as part of the Jazz At Lincoln Center residency at Barbican Centre, London. And watch this space for news of the forthcoming tour of the Yamaha competition winners!

Jazz Services Parliamentary Jazz Awards page

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To roars of approval by the packed audience, and under Crosby’s watchful eye, the Tomorrow’s Warriors ensemble comprising of Dylan Jones (trumpet), David Turay (alto sax), James Mollison (tenor sax), Charlie Stacey (piano), Florence Moore (double bass), and Femi Koleoso (drums) set the stage alight when they performed their set of three compositions including Roy Hargrove’s ‘Strasbourg/St Denis’, the popular jazz standard ‘Body And Soul’ (Green, Heyman, Sour, Eyton), and Herbie Hancock’s ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’. The other two competition finalists were FYJO Septet (from the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra), and Wells Cathedral School Jazz Combo.

The distinguished judging panel of Julian Joseph, Issie Barratt, Gwilym Simcock, and bass legend Peter Ind were looking for creativity, musicality and communication with both the audience and between band members.

The first prize, presented by Bill C. Martin, Music Education Manager at Yamaha Music Europe GmbH (UK) includes a prestigious gig at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, London, and a £1,000 Yamaha certificate. He said: “Tomorrow's Warriors gave such a strong, soulful and accomplished performance and much deserved to win the under-19 category.”

Said a delighted Crosby: “I was so proud of them. They were stunning, absolutely beautiful. There is so much potential in this group, and all their hard work has paid off. The world needs to hear this outstanding young band.”

The next major event in the calendar is Saturday 14 July when Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Jazz Orchestra appears in the Essentially Ellington Big Band programme as part of the Jazz At Lincoln residency at Barbican Centre, London.

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Also check out Denys Baptiste's Triumvirate who are playing there immediately afterwards at 7.30pm and make an evening of it.

If you haven't heard the TWYJO yet prepare to be impressed as they mix up jazz with their own arrangements of contemporary tunes from Coldplay to Funkadelic.

Kings Place is at 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG. Box Office: 020 7520 1490.

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1.00pm - 3.30pm   Free Admission 

We're delighted that our Tomorrow's Warriors development group has made it through to the finals of this year's Yamaha Jazz Experience competition. The Youth Ensemble: Dylan Jones - trumpet, James Mollison - tenor saxophone, David Turay - alto saxophone, Florence Moore - double bass, Charlie Stacey - piano and Femi Koleoso - drums, are among the nine bands performing at finals taking place at the 2012 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, before a judging panel including Julian Joseph, Peter Ind, Richard Michael, Issie Barratt and Gwilym Simcock. Come along and support these exceptional young musicians as seek to emulate the success of the Tomorrow's Warriors Biggish Band who won their section in the 2010 competition. 

Photo: Howard Denner

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Photo: Mia Korell

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Glanfa Stage, Wales Millennium Centre, Bute Place, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5AL

1.00pm - 1.45pm   Free admission

Fresh from a fantastic performance at the Southbank last month, the musicians and vocalists of the Tomorrow's Warriors Youth Jazz Orchestra will take part in this all day free festival celebrating the jazz heritage of Cardiff Docklands. Taking the stage at 1.00pm, they'll be performing a 45 minute set that includes the Doobie Brothers' 'Takin' It To The Streets', Buena Vista Social Club's 'Chan Chan', Billy Taylor's 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free', Kanye West's 'Stronger' and 'The Glory', plus original repertoire and arrangements by Max De Lucia. All festival details are on the Butetown Bay Jazz Heritage Festival website here.

Photo: Howard Denner

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Binker Golding directing the Nu Civilisation Orchestra. Photo Credit: Benjamin Amure. All Rights reserved

Nu Civilisation Orchestra (Dir. Peter Edwards / Binker Golding)

Purcell Room, March 3rd 2012. Review by Sebastian Scotney

This was an enthusiastically attended evening of lively, varied, expertly played contemporary big band music. It went under various confusing names, such as "Music Nation Weekend at the South Bank Centre," which as far as I could work out was a series of unrelated and separately ticketed gigs. It was also called "Firebird - A Stravinsky-Parker Soundclash", where any trace of Stravinsky's ballet was, er, singularly absent. But, since one goes to an event like this in order to respond to the music itself rather than the descriptions of it, all that really doesn't matter much. 

Words don't help, then, but Ben Amure's two pictures here do tell the story of last night rather well. Bassist Gary Crosby, who founded the orchestra, has now yielded the musical direction to two highly capable and talented bandleaders/ arrangers/ conductors with well-contrasted personalities, Peter Edwards (below) and Binker Golding (above). 

The pair, who also collaborate seamlessly and supportively as a team - that's jazz, it can't work any other way - take the upfront role very differently. Golding wears his heart more on his sleeve, the band responds to his passionate gestures by playing with blazing commitment. His music is vivid, sculpted, on fire. Edwards (below)is a quieter but at the same time perhaps the more commanding presence, rooted in the tradition, living it, bringing it to life, right here right now, and consciously extending it, with elegantly crafted, highly melodic, instantly appealing homages to, for example,Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Bobby Timmons

Peter Edwards directing the Nu Civilisation Orchestra. Photo credit: Benjamin Amure. All Rights Reserved

The most ambitious piece was a four-movement suite composed by Golding entitled The Maenads. In the outer movements the scoring is deliberately vivid and violent in intent, with rasping, snarling brass. By way of complete contrast, the third section "Come to the Mountain" cycled a calming four-bar Radiohead-ish phrase. The suite deserves more frequent outings. I didn't see a single audience member bothering to sink the head into the programme to find out what the titles were all about. And that's for a simple reason: when the music is this strong, the narrative lines so energetic, it speaks for itself. 

There were fine individual contributions from members of the orchestra throughout the evening.Theon Cross nailed the lopsided grooves on tuba with precision and humour. Drummer Andy Chapman was flawless. On trumpet Mark Perry took his moments to shine. Will Gibson's alto sax solos took the listener on a fascinating journey every time, and he clearly had the tricky idiom and metres of Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto completely under his fingers. The trumpet section of this band play across, as a real section. The lower brass give wonderful colour. 

As our Friday columnist Jack Davies wrote last October, there is amazing life and energy in young big bands in the UK. Last night proved it: Nu Civilisation Orchestra are part of something big. 

LondonJazz

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Listen to a preview of the Nu Civilisation Orchestra Firebird event on the Music Nation podcast - it starts at 10:35.

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Saturday 3 March  6.00 -7.00pm Front Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX

The Tomorrow's Warriors Youth Jazz Orchestra is rapidly building a reputation as the hippest young jazz collective in the country. At the Front Room they are joined by four sensational young musicians from Norway's Voss Jazzskule: Sindre Medhus - piano, Ragnhild Kløve-Graue - bass, Sigurd Øygard Steinkopf - drums and Elisabeth Lid Trøen - saxophone.

This special free event  - part of the Music Nation weekend - will give London a first taste of the international collaboration between Tomorrow's Warriors and Voss Jazzskule that's opening up opportunities for young musicians from the UK and Norway.

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See the full gallery on Posterous

Our friend, the bassist and composer Yuriy Galkin releases his album Nine Of A Kind on the F-IRE label and is touring his nonet lineup (formerly the Symbiosis Orchestra) around the country. Go see him and this exceptional young band: Freddie Gavita (trumpet, flugelhorn), Steve Fishwick (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jon Stokes (trombone), George Crowley (tenor sax), Tamar Osborn (baritone and soprano saxes, bass clarinet), John Turville (piano), Dave Hamblett (drums) – and Russian Zhenya Strigalev (alto sax). Here are three tracks from the album.

Terminal X short.mp3 Listen on Posterous

One For Fred short.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Evolvent short.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Just in time for Valentine's Day, here's a beautiful Jazz Valentine composed of song titles that's perfect for musicians and the people that love them. Many thanks to Mia Truelove for the poem and illustration.

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Excerpts from 1) Blues Ostinata (Peter Edwards), 2. Maenad's Suite (Binker Golding), 3. Ebony Concerto (Stravinsky)

• Saturday 3 March at 7.45pm  Purcell Room, Southbank Centre SE1 8XX
• Saturday 28 April at 8.00pm  Turner Sims, Southampton SO17 1BJ

Firebird makes its London debut at the Southbank Centre and the Turner Sims Concert Hall at the University of Southampton following two hugely succesful performances by the Nu Civilisation Orchestra in Manchester and Sheffield during Autumn 2011. This exciting programme features a remodeled version of Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto, NCO MD Peter Edwards' Blues Ostinata and his arrangement of Steve Williamson's How High The Bird, Maenads Suite by Binker Golding and more.

Firebird is where jazz and classical music meet. It's a fusion of the musical worlds of 20th-century icon Igor Stravinsky and jazz superstar Charlie Parker. It's going to be a spectacular event, so book early!

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Our esteemed leader and Tomorrow's Warriors' Artistic Director Gary Crosby will be performing in a rare trio lineup with the excting young past and present Warrriors Nathaniel Facey (alto saxophone) and Moses Boyd (drums). If you don't know already, the weekly jazz:refreshed gig is one of the live music highlights of the week - their website is here and will have more information nearer the date. Tickets only £5.00 before 9.00pm.

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Photo: Gary Crosby

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Tuesday 6 December at 6.00pm  Front Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall SE1 8XX

TWYJO play an early 45-minute set where they will debut exciting new arrangements of Morcheeba's Rome Wasn't Built In A Day by Max De Lucia and a mix of Flying Lotus' Infinitum and Frank Loesser's If I Were A Bell by Tyrone Isaac-Stuart. They'll also be performing some Jazz Jamaica charts and with guest vocalists Kwabena Adjepong and Chanelle Hall taking part, this will be a great way to kick off a Tuesday evening. And as always at the Front Room, it's free admission!

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Elisabeth Lid Trøen is an exciting young talent and a student at the Voss Jazz School in Norway, the home of the Nordic Warriors. She's seen here performing at Evans Jazz Club with Rod Youngs on drums and double bassist Steinar Raknes.

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See the full gallery on Posterous

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