Julian Siegel

He has worked with many top figures in the music including Bill Frisell, Andrew Hill, Steve Swallow, Adam Nussbaum, Hermeto Pascoal, Michael Gibbs, Django Bates, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and the NDR Big band In 2007 he was awarded the BBC Jazz Award for Best Instrumentalist and in 2011 his band the Julian Siegel Quartet was awarded the Jazz Award in the London Festival Fringe Awards for Art and Performance.

He is currently touring a set of new music with the Julian Siegel Quartet featuring some of the most distinctive voices on the British scene, the pianist Liam Noble, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo. In 2011 the band released the critically acclaimed album 'Urban Theme Park' (Basho), followed up by a tour of Germany and Austria in the Brit Jazz touring Festival. The band has played at many UK Festivals including performances at the International Jazz Festivals in London, Brecon and Cheltenham. In April 2017 the Quartet was awarded a prestigious showcase at the JazzAhead Festival in Bremen. In early 2018 the Quartet will release their new album 'Vista' on Whirlwind Recordings followed up by a major album launch tour.

Julian plays alongside two stars of the American improvised music scene in the Julian Siegel Trio - drummer Joey Baron and bassist Greg Cohen. The band was formed from a commission from Cheltenham International Jazz Festival 2006 and the Jerwood Foundation and has made two major tours of the UK, releasing album Live at the Vortex in 2009 (Basho).

Julian has co-led the influential group Partisans with the in-demand guitarist Phil Robson for the last eighteen years. The band's fifth album 'Swamp' is out on the Whirlwind Recordings label. They have toured extensively around Europe, USA and Canada playing at international jazz festivals in Rochester (New York), Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Berlin and the Tampere Jazz Happening, Finland.

In 2017 Julian was commissioned by Derby Jazz to write a new piece for Jazz Orchestra, 'Tales from the Jacquard' . The commission was performed by the newly formed Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra on a six date UK tour in March 2017 with grateful assistance from Arts Council England , Derby Jazz, Emjazz and Right Tempo. This 'handpicked' and stellar line-up, conducted by Nick Smart features some of Julian's favourite players on the UK and European scene.

Image: Martin Wikowski