Tom Green





Tom Green is a London-based trombonist, composer, arranger and improviser working primarily in the fields of jazz and contemporary music.

Winner of the Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition and Eddie Harvey Arranger's Award, he performs regularly around the UK as well as writing for his own projects and other ensembles, and has performed at prestigious venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

"Tipping Point", his second album with his Septet, was released in April 2020 to unanimous critical acclaim and is avaliable to buy.

His debut album "Skyline" is also available on Spark label.

"A kaleidoscope of harmony that is not only phenomenally skilful, but absorbing and endlessly entertaining, too" (Dave Gelly, Observer, 4*)

"A band with big sound, and big prospects" John Fordham, the Guardian

"Mighty impressive... this band is one to look out for" Ivan Hewett, the Telegraph

Recent quotes
"Some of the most exciting original music I've heard for a long time" Dame Cleo Laine

"A poised and nuanced improviser" John Fordham, the Guardian

"A new rising star in the British Jazz scene"
Nigel Williams, Jazz FM
Upcoming gigs
17/12 Seven Steps Big Band
Omnibus, Clapham, 3pm



News

15/11/21 - A quick update

In Summer 2021 it seemed like everything went from 0 to 100mph - hence it's been a long time since a website update. The Summer was full of outdoor performances at festivals across the country followed by an enjoyable Septet performance at Pizza Express in October and it was great to catch up with friends who I hadn't seen for months.

Generally though it's been a quiet time for my own groups as I've been performing with other projects, as well as arranging and writing for new groups and that looks set to continue for the remainder of the year. So for now watch this space - many new exciting things to come for 2022!

18/02/21 - Podcasts and Livestreams

With live music still pretty much out of bounds for artists and audiences due to the ongoing lockdown in the UK, I've been exploring other ways to connect with music lovers and other musicians. This Sunday 21st Feb (and avaliable for a week after) I'll be broadcasting my first livestream gig with the Brass Funkeys from the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone which is also the launch of our new EP. Hope you can join us!

I loved recently being interviewed by good friend and musical colleague Tommy Andrews for his Soundspring Podcast, featuring fascinating discussions with creative musicians sharing how they turn their stories, ideas and feelings into sound. I chat about my composition "Equilibrium" from my first album Skyline, our love of nature, the environment and the outdoors and the challenges of staying creative especially during lockdown.

20/10/20 - A year like no other

Well, this has been an odd year all right. With all gigs grounded including my Septet album launch tour, my time has been filled instead with two album launches, composing, video editing and remote recording, with some hopefully exciting results and projects in the pipeline for when the cogs start moving again (which they certainly will). I thought I would share a few updates:

This interview in the "Trombonist" magazine sums up my thoughts on lockdown and the implications of COVID-19 for live music, as well as talking about my new Septet album "Tipping Point".

Patchwork Jazz Orchestra have been busy releasing our lockdown EP "The Light That Shines" on my record label Spark. We recorded the whole EP from our homes, and we've been producing videos for each track that have got ever more elaborate as we have gone on - my effort is below, a space-themed odyssey to go with my arrangement of the fantastic Fred Hersch tune "Endless Stars".

Finally, with just over a week to go until Halloween, I dug out the final video from the "Tipping Point" album recording sessions which will premiere on Friday 23rd October. This one's a folk-inspired tune called "Jack O'Lantern", featuring the wonderful Sam Miles on tenor sax.

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well, and very much hope to see you at a live gig in the not too distant future!

09/05/20 - "Tipping Point" 4* reviews are in

Thrilled to get a number of 4* reviews and great quotes from the first few weeks of my album launch! Some selected press below:

Jazzwise: 4* "A classy yet unfussy showing from a young musician who, without the benefits of riding any new wave of jazz, leads one of the best 'new generation' larger ensembles"

The Observer: 4* "seamless flow - in the hands of an imaginative and ingenious composer such as Green, the possibilities seem endless"

The Guardian: "an ingeniously contrapuntal repertoire for a septet that sounds twice the size"

Jazz Journal: 4* "a lively player, a consistently interesting composer"

UK Vibe: 4* "Tipping Point looks set to bring Tom Green waves more plaudits for another album sure to make his star rise even higher."

Marlbank: "Trombonist Green is a force to be reckoned with"

Jazz Views: "Uplifting music for these trying times"

London Jazz News:"The best albums are those which don’t fully reveal themselves until you’ve listened several times. Tipping Point sounds like one of those. I’ll enjoy getting better acquainted"

Also enjoyed writing some articles and interviews for the following magazines and blogs:

London Jazz News Interview with John Fordham: "Tom Green has stood out for the coupling of an original imagination to consummate craftsmanship – yet he does the most difficult things without ostentation, since he and his musicians consistently sound as if they’re just trying to have the most fun they can."

Sussex Jazz Magazine Q&A

Sandy Brown Jazz Full Focus Article where I describe the compositional process for "Champagne Sky"

Jazz Views Playlist: 10 albums I'm enjoying listening to at the moment.

Here's a new video of my track "Kaleidoscope" featuring Misha Mullov-Abbado on double bass:

04/04/20 - First video from "Tipping Point"

Five years after the release of "Skyline", I'm very excited to announce my second Septet album "Tipping Point" will be released on Friday 17th April.

"Tipping point" is a phrase that has become more and more common to describe global changes, whether the subject matter is climate change, politics or upheavals within society. When writing the music for this release I had no idea the title would also reflect the current situation we find ourselves in with the whole world in lockdown.

I wrote this music to celebrate the importance of hope and positive action when addressing individual and global challenges in a rapidly changing world. I hope you enjoy listening to it in this difficult time, and that we can share it with you live in concert at some point in the future.

While we are unable to embark on our planned album launch tour, over the next few weeks I will be releasing live videos of some of the 8 tracks from the recording session on my website and social media, the first of which is below - an arrangement of a beautiful Joni Mitchell tune from her album "Blue".

Click here to buy the album

21/02/20 - Tom Green Septet new album "Tipping Point"

Happy New Year! Very excited to announce that my Septet will be releasing an album of new compositions entitled "Tipping Point" in April 2020.

The album features Misha Mullov-Abbado (double bass), James Davison (trumpet), Sam Miles (tenor sax), Tommy Andrews (alto and soprano sax), Scott Chapman (drums), and Sam James (piano).

Our album launch concert will be at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho on 21st April, together with a select few dates in the UK and abroad.

The album features eight new compositions celebrating the importance of hope and positive action when addressing individual and global challenges.

20% of album sales will be donated to the charities Trees for Life; rewilding the Scottish Highlands by restoring the Caledonian Forest, and Cool Earth: working alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation.





02/02/19 - Badger Cam music video

The long-awaited video for my piece "Badger Cam" is finally here! Featuring an albino badger, assorted wildlife from my back garden and some amazing playing from Patchwork Jazz Orchestra with solos from Tom Smith and Rob Luft. See below for details of our upcoming album release and tour.

About

Tom Green
Winner of the 2013 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition and 2017 Eddie Harvey Arranger's Award, Tom Green is a trombonist, composer and arranger described as "a new rising star in the British jazz scene" by Nigel Williams (Jazz FM). A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music jazz course, Tom plays regularly in the UK at venues including Ronnie Scott’s, the Vortex and 606 club, as well as on national and international tours. His current main project is the Tom Green Septet, who released their debut album "Skyline" in February 2015 to unanimous critical acclaim. Their second album "Tipping Point" is set for release in April 2020.

Tom has directed his own groups and big bands on national tours, including an 18-date Septet album launch tour across the UK, from Inverness in Scotland to St Ives in Cornwall. He has performed internationally at the Casa del Jazz in Rome, La Mortella on the island of Ischia in Italy, the Budapest Jazz Club, and Langnau Jazz Nights festival in Switzerland. His quintet were invited to Tunisia by the Jazz Club of Tunis to teach for a week-long programme alongside musicians from the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra in New York, culminating in a performance for International Jazz Day 2014.

His wide range of musical experience also includes directing, writing, arranging and performing music with big bands, orchestras, chamber, salsa, soul, funk, jazz and progressive rock groups both locally and nationally, as well as tours with professional shows across Europe, on both trombone and keyboards.

Tom is a director of the record label Spark! alongside drummer JJ Wheeler. Spark! was set up as an outlet for the most exciting music pouring out of the latest generation of emerging jazz and creative music artists. Alongside releasing and distributing music, the label provides support and infrastructure to talented musicians, enabling sustainable growth and career development while granting 100% artistic freedom and retention of their rights. The label now has 8 releases by artists including Sam Watts, Tom Millar, Lorraine Baker, and Patchwork Jazz Orchestra.

Please get in touch with Tom for more information. Download hi res photos




Tom Green Septet

Tom Green Septet

Download Septet hi res photos and EPK (Electronic Press Kit)

"A band with big sound, and big prospects"
John Fordham, the Guardian, Feb 2015

"Remarkable… only the very best arrangers can get a sound like that from four horns"
Evan Parker, June 2013

"Mighty impressive... this band is one to look out for"
Ivan Hewett, the Telegraph, Feb 2015

"Contemporary chamber jazz that is both elegant and lively, full of tightly written passages that blossom into free playing with natural ease"
Tony Benjamin, Venue Magazine Bristol, December 2013

The Tom Green Septet is an outlet for Tom's original compositions: elegant and lively contemporary chamber jazz tunes with rich harmony, propulsive grooves, and memorable melodies at their heart. The Septet was formed in November 2012, bringing together seven in-demand young musicians who are all prize-winning bandleaders, composers and performers in their own right. Together they create a warm and distinct sound world, using the unique range of textures available in the seven-piece ensemble.

Their debut album “Skyline” was released in February 2015 to unanimous critical acclaim, with the band undertaking an 18-date launch tour from Inverness in Scotland to St Ives in Cornwall. Dave Gelly in the Observer (4*) described it as “a kaleidoscope of harmony that is not only phenomenally skilful, but absorbing and endlessly entertaining, too.” The CD was recorded at Real World Studios and released on Tom’s own Spark label. It was described in Jazzwise as “startlingly good and a delight to hear” (4*), and according to Peter Bacon of the Jazz Breakfast blog, “there’s little point in picking out highlights – the whole album is a highlight.”

Their new album “Tipping Point” was released in April 2020. The album builds on the themes that influenced “Skyline”, with 8 new tracks inspired by topics including climate change, natural beauty and the role of individual and collective action in a rapidly changing world. The album has generated 4* reviews in Jazzwise ("A classy yet unfussy showing from a young musician who, without the benefits of riding any new wave of jazz, leads one of the best 'new generation' larger ensembles"), the Observer ("seamless flow") and was described as "uplifting music for these trying times" by Eddie Myer of Jazz Views.

Tom Green - Trombone/Compositions
James Davison - Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Tommy Andrews - Alto/Soprano Saxophones
Sam Miles - Tenor Saxophone
Sam James - Piano
Misha Mullov-Abbado - Double Bass
Scott Chapman - Drums

"I've been involved in jazz for more than 60 years and this is some of the most exciting original new music I have heard for a long time. Tom's writing has complexity, depth and intensity but above all a strong melodic thread… played with fantastic energy and a true band sound"
Dame Cleo Laine, June 2013

"Interwoven contrapuntal writing of real intricacy… an impeccably tuned front four, the crisp accuracy of Scott Chapman at the drum kit…"
Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz Blog, Feb 2013

Tom Green Septet videos:





Spark Label

SPARK Label was established in 2014 by musicians JJ Wheeler and Tom Green as an outlet for the most exciting music pouring out of the latest generation of emerging jazz and creative music artists. Alongside releasing and distributing music, the label provides support and infrastructure to talented musicians, enabling sustainable growth and career development while granting 100% artistic freedom and retention of their rights.

Releases:

SPARK001 Tom Green Septet - Skyline
SPARK002 Scrapbook - Scrapbook
SPARK003 Sam Watts - Mime Music
SPARK004 Tom Millar Quartet - Unnatural Events
SPARK005 Trialogue - First Flight
SPARK006 Lorraine Baker - Eden
SPARK007 Patchwork Jazz Orchestra - The Adventures of Mr Pottercakes
SPARK008 Tom Green Septet - Tipping Point


Spark Label Releases

Patchwork Jazz Orchestra

www.patchworkjazzorchestra.com

Winners of the 2015 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award, Patchwork Jazz Orchestra are a collective London based ensemble dedicated to championing big band music in a contemporary setting.

The 17 piece group made its debut at the 2014 London Jazz Festival to a sell out audience at the Forge, Camden, and since then has been turning heads with the sound of fresh original compositions written exclusively by its members. Having performed at venues from London's Vortex Jazz Club to abroad at La Mortella, Ischia, Italy, the orchestra are setting up their own night, 'Patchwork', aided by the funding received from the Peter Whittingham Award.

"Patchwork Jazz Orchestra are plugged into the spirit of the current London jazz scene, littered with talented writers and players unafraid of thinking big."
Julian Joseph

Prior to our existence, each and every one of us had already performed with one another in different contexts and subgroups, with a handful of us involved in small bands of our own. However there was a desire among many to not only play more large ensemble music, but to have the opportunity and environment in which we could write for it. Early in 2014 ideas started to form for the band and in the November of that year the Patchwork Jazz Orchestra reared its head for the first time at the London Jazz Festival.

Big bands have been an essential part of the jazz tradition and for a lot of us have played a key role in our development as musicians. The orchestra means we can continue both of these things and add to the legacy of big band music, with the aim of helping to bring it back into the public eye more and engaging new audiences.

The collaborative nature of the orchestra is one of its most valuable assets and the diversity of influences and personalities that exist within it is also a huge benefit. The way personal relations, composition and performance all feed into each other in Patchwork Jazz Orchestra is very unique, and since its inception we have recognised more and more that this is what the band thrives on and makes it what it is.

Long may it continue!

MEMBERS:

Matthew Herd, Alex Hitchcock - Alto sax
Sam Miles, Sam Rapley - Tenor sax
Sam Glaser - Baritone sax
Tom Green, Kieran McLeod, Jamie Pimenta, Yusuf Narcin - Trombones
James Davison, Adam Chatterton, James Copus, Tom Dennis - Trumpets
Misha Mullov-Abbado - Double Bass
Liam Dunachie - Piano
Rob Luft - Guitar
Scott Chapman - Drums

Check out Tom's arrangement of the Fred Hersch tune "Endless Stars" played by the band:

The Brass Funkeys

Spirited Second Line Revelry, Galloping Gypsy Czárdas, Soulful Jazz Funeral Marches, Pumping Brass Driven Funk! #THRASHBRASS

www.brassfunkeys.com

The Brass Funkeys are an 8-piece London-based Brass Band who draw on the traditions of New Orleans. Formed in 2011, they have played at major festivals including Glastonbury, Wilderness and the North Sea Jazz Festival as well as London venues including The O2 Brooklyn Bowl, Koko Camden, and Ronnie Scott’s. Whether performing a powerful amplified stage show or as a totally mobile marching band, the Brass Funkeys bring together some of the most talented musicians in London in an eclectic live show bursting at the seams with ideas and infectious energy.

They have recently launched their second album Rabble Rouser with a sold-out show at Rich Mix and a 14-date UK tour from Cornwall to Newcastle, featuring 13 tracks of original compositions by band members and unusual covers such as Gorillaz ‘Dirty Harry’ and Royce Wood Junior ‘Honeydripper’. Rabble Rouser marks the Brass Funkeys out as a trailblazer in the new generation of UK Brass Bands, while still holding true to the New Orleans sound.

“Brass has not been this good since that time Reel Big Fish covered A-Ha” – Noisey @ Glastonbury 2017

“Hugely enjoyable!” **** allaboutjazz.com “Rabble Rouser” review

Tom Green & Vij Prakash - Trombones
Rob Smith, Jack Banjo Courtney & Matt Letts - Trumpets
Dave Robinson - Tenor Sax
Rob Slater / John Caddick - Sousaphone
Harpal Mudhar - Drums
Chris Brice - Percussion

Tom Green Quartet & Quintet

"This is music that you won't get tired of listening to. You are always able to find new facets and quirks." - Ruby Read live review at Omnibus, Clapham

A smaller and more intimate version of his Septet, Tom's quartet is a trombone led group playing his originals and re-workings of a wide range of repertoire from modern standards to traditional folk tunes. They have performed at venues including the Stables in Wavendon, Arts Depot Finchley, and Omnibus in Clapham. You can read a review of a gig here.

Tom Green - Trombone/Compositions
Sam Miles - Tenor Saxophone
Sam James - Piano
Misha Mullov-Abbado - Double Bass
Scott Chapman - Drums

Other Projects

Tom Green Septet

Jazz and contemporary projects as a sideman include:






- Troyk-estra
-
Misha Mullov-Abbado Quintet
- Kieran McLeod's "Human Resource System"
- Dave Smyth's Timecraft Octet
- Gareth Lockrane Big Band
- London City Big Band

Projects in other styles as a sideman include:
- Dixie Strollers - Authentic young Dixieland jazz group
- Live and Let Funk - Soul/funk/rock
- Orquesta La Rebelion - Salsa/latin
- Aeon Zen - Progressive metal (keyboards)

Other associated venues and collaborations:
- La Mortella, Ischia, Italy (William Walton Foundation)
- Jazz Club de Tunis
- Budapest Jazz Club
- Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra

Composition & other activities

Tom is a highly active composer writing for a variety of ensembles and musicians, having studied with composers Pete Churchill, Mark Lockhart, and Liam Noble amongst others. Other than his septet writing he has written and arranged for strings, horn sections, chamber and brass groups, choirs, function bands and many other ensembles. He also regularly provides transcriptions and engraving in Sibelius.

In addition Tom regularly records and performs for sessions (BBC, CBBC), MDing work (big bands on national and international tours), shows on trombone and keyboards (West Side Story, Les Miserables at venues in Cyprus, Jersey, Guernsey), teaching (privately, specialising in jazz on piano and trombone) and at private functions (from background jazz to soul/funk/rock/pop). Get in touch for more information.

Discography

Gigs

Contact

email: tom@tomgreenmusic.com

tel: +44 (0)7732 407491