GWILYM SIMCOCK
GWILYM'S
DEBUT ALBUM PERCEPTION LAUNCHED AT THE LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
ON 16TH NOVEMBER
WATCH OUT FOR UK DATES
LISTEN
TO SOME TRACKS:
A
Typical Affair 8:16
Sneaky
6:13
Time
and Tide 9:29
The
Way You Look Tonight 8:26
READ
ALBUM PRESS RELEASE
READ
REVIEWS (short version)
READ
FULL REVIEWS
GWILYM SIMCOCK WINS "JAZZ MUSICIAN
OF THE YEAR" AT THE PARLIAMENTARY JAZZ AWARDS 2007
Gwilym
is chosen as the first ever BBC Radio 3 New Generations Jazz Artist
THE
NEW AMBASSADOR FOR JAZZ
read the Evening Standard Interview here
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GWILYM'S
DATES
GWILYM'S
BIOG
GWILYM
SIMCOCK QUINTET
GWILYM SIMCOCK TRIO
GWILYM SIMCOCK BIG
BAND
“Young piano recruit Gwilym Simcock delivered
the first of a series of glittering solos…a startled turn
of the head and appreciative smile from the old master Konitz confirmed
what a class act Simcock has so quickly become.” The Guardian
Still only 26 years of age, Gwilym Simcock is one
of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers working on
British scene. Able to move effortlessly between jazz and classical
music, he can, at times, inhabit both worlds and has been described
as being stylistically reminiscent of Keith Jarrett, complete with
‘harmonic sophistication and subtle dovetailing of musical
traditions’ as well as being a pianist of ‘exceptional’,
‘brilliant’ and ‘dazzling’ ability.
Gwilym’s influences include jazz legends Jarrett,
Chick Corea and John Taylor and much inspiration is taken from the
classical world, especially the work of Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky
as well as contemporary composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage who
fuse together written and improvised music. Although principally
a jazz artist, Gwilym is breaking new ground between genres and
often uses classical reference points in his composed work - he
recently devised a solo piano project using the piano works of Shostakovich
as a starting point and in 2005 premiered a piano concerto especially
written for him by Tim Garland.
Aside from his renowned solo piano work, Gwilym has
worked extensively throughout Europe playing with the cream of British
and international jazz artists including Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler,
Lee Konitz, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks and Bob Mintzer among
others. His own groups as a leader range from trio to big band to
a 40-piece ensemble featuring a gospel choir and strings. His composing
and playing strengths in are evidence in every dimension of the
music for his quintet which features Stan Sulzmann (saxophones),
John Parricelli (guitar), Phil Donkin (bass) and Martin France (drums).
This band has been critically and widely acclaimed as ‘engaging,
exciting, often unexpected, melodically enthralling, complex and
wonderfully optimistic’.
A previous winner of the Perrier Award, BBC Jazz Awards
and British Jazz Rising Star Awards 2005 and participant in Take
Five – the UK’s unique artist development initiative,
Gwilym is currently a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist –
the first jazz artist to be selected. He was voted “Jazz Musician
of the Year” at the 2007 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and is
again nominated for the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards as Best Instrumentalist.
He has an impressive formal education which includes stints at the
Trinity College of Music (London), Chetham’s School of Music
(Manchester) – where he studied classical piano, French horn
and composition and the Royal Academy of Music (London) where he
graduated from the jazz course with first class honours and the
coveted 'Principal's Prize' for outstanding achievement.
Recent and forthcoming Projects include:
· Performances throughout the UK with his Trio
including a date at the Wigmore Hall during the London Jazz Festival,
2006 to be broadcast 7th July 2007 on BBC Radio 3.
· Pan European Broadcast for BBC Radio 3 on Friday 24th November
2006
· Solo recording for BBC Radio 3 as part of the BBC Radio
3 New Generation Artist Scheme, 2006
· An orchestral collaboration as part of the BBC Radio 3
New Generation Artist Scheme, 2007
· A tour and commission for a piano concerto with big band
with the NDR Big Band in Germany
· A tour and commission with The Scottish Ensemble (Chamber
Orchestra), 2007 broadcast on July 1st 2007 on BBC Radio Scotland
· A Big Band project in Cheltenham Jazz Festival, 2007 broadcast
on BBC Radio on 1st June 2007
· Recording debut album for release in October 2007
· Guest soloist on Mark Antony Turnage’s new commission
with London Sinfonietta for the re-opening of the South Bank Complex
at Queen Elizabeth Hall, June 2007
· Klavier Festival Ruhr – solo concert performance
and live recording - Gwilym chosen by Chick Corea, June 2007. This
concert will be broadcast on WDR radio and 20,000 copies will be
given away as a cover mount CD in Germany’s leading music
magazine FONOFORUM.
· Appearance at the 2007 North Sea Jazz Festival
· A major commission for new work with the BBC Concert Orchestra
in 2008
· Gwilym will be appearing on the front cover of the August
2007 issue of the UK’s leading Jazz journal JAZZWISE
Press Quotes:
"As a pianist alone, Gwilym Simcock would have
deserved all the hype, but this performance confirms that he doesn't
see his composer's identity as his second string". The Guardian
"Gwilym Simcock frequently dazzling, especially
on a tumultuous unaccompanied feature",
The Guardian
"a jaw-droppingly exciting pianist"
James Griffiths, The Guardian
“…I'll be watching our finest young piano-player
Gwilym Simcock - don't miss him while you can still see him in venues
without ushers”. Jamie Cullum, The Guardian
"Though still in his early twenties, Gwilym Simcock
has already played with the cream of the jazz world, including Kenny
Wheeler and Tim Garland, with whom he appears in both Bill Bruford's
Earthworks and Acoustic Triangle. He looks like being a piano star
of the future". The Independent
"This … pianist is exceptional, as both
player and composer." The Observer
"The Waterman band was preceded by recently risen
star Gwilym Simcock's piano trio. Simcock has rocketed through jazz
education and out into a creative world of his own almost overnight.
In a varied set, he included a typically flowing tribute to his
teacher John Taylor's harmonically demanding Ambleside Days. But
it was a fast exploration of a standard (How Deep Is the Ocean)
that cried out for a recording machine to be running, in its headlong
momentum, occasional classical flourishes, and melodic queries resolved
or left quizzically suspended in space". The Guardian
Discography:
Catalyst, Acoustic Triangle (Audio B, 2003)
Close to You, Kathleen Willison (Basho SRCD 8-2 2004)
Resonance, Acoustic Triangle (Audio B, 2005)
If the Sea Replied, Tim Garland (Sirocco Music, 2005) (Winner of
BBC Jazz Awards Prize for Innovation 2006)
Heart Luggage – Klaus Gesing ATS Records 2006
Sax of Gold - Sax Assault 2007
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>>
GWILYM'S DATES
GWILYM'S
BIOG
GWILYM
SIMCOCK QUINTET
GWILYM
SIMCOCK TRIO
GWILYM
SIMCOCK BIG BAND
"Simcock showed why he
is regarded as the wunderkind of the piano in Britain".
Irish Times, 2nd May 2006
"As a pianist alone,
Gwilym Simcock would have deserved all the hype, but this performance
confirms that he doesn't see his composer's identity as his
second string".
John Fordham 4 stars ****The Guardian on 1st
March 2006
"Gwilym Simcock frequently
dazzling, especially on a tumultuous unaccompanied feature"
Review of Acoustic Triangle's new CD Resonance 4 Stars
**** The Guardian, Dec 9th 2005
“From our own scene
I'll be watching our finest young piano-player Gwilym Simcock
(606 Club, Nov 16; Purcell Room, Nov 17) - don't miss him while
you can still see him in venues without ushers”. Jamie
Cullum Interviews by John Fordham and John L Walters,The
Guardian, Friday November 4, 2005
"Though still in his
early twenties, Gwilym Simcock has already played with the cream
of the jazz world, including Kenny Wheeler and Tim Garland,
with whom he appears in both Bill Bruford's Earthworks and Acoustic
Triangle. He looks like being a piano star of the future".
The Independent, Oct 8, 2005
"This (22-year-old) pianist
is exceptional, as both player and composer."
The Observer
“Brilliant young pianist”
Alyn Shipton, BBC Radio 2
“Young piano recruit
Gwilym Simcock delivered the first of a series of glittering
solos. A startled turn of the head and appreciative smile from
the old master Konitz confirmed what a class act Simcock has
so quickly become.”
John Fordham, The Guardian
Jan 2005
"The Waterman band was
preceded by recently risen star Gwilym Simcock's piano trio.
Simcock has rocketed through jazz education and out into a creative
world of his own almost overnight. In a varied set, he included
a typically flowing tribute to his teacher John Taylor's harmonically
demanding Ambleside Days. But it was a fast exploration of a
standard (How Deep Is the Ocean) that cried out for a recording
machine to be running, in its headlong momentum, occasional
classical flourishes, and melodic queries resolved or left quizzically
suspended in space".
John Fordham, The
Guardian
Nov 2005

'Sulzmann - the classy composer'.
John Fordham, The Guardian

"The resourceful John
Parricelli has the right mix of lightness, rhythm and lyricism"
THE TIMES


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