Brigitte Beraha (vocals) is an improvising vocalist and composer and is one of the leading talents on the UK Jazz scene. She teaches jazz vocals at the Guildhall School of Music, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music, has recorded a number of critically acclaimed albums and toured extensively in the UK and beyond. Her work embraces not only original contemporary jazz and the core jazz and Latin repertoires but, increasingly, cross-genre projects such as the recent recreation of Basil Kirchin's music as part of Hull City of Culture 2017 with the BBC Concert Orchestra and curated by Will Gregory, which are cementing her reputation as an expert with a wide range of experience and creative scope.
Tori Freestone (tenor & soprano sax, flute) features in many of the UK’s most exciting ensembles including Hermeto Pascoal, Yazz Ahmed, the Jensen Sisters and the Julian Siegel and Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestras, plus the London Jazz Orchestra for which she holds the tenor one chair. She co-leads a duo with pianist Alcyona Mick and leads her own trio with numerous releases to her name. She composed a commission for the 2014 EFG London Jazz Festival, was shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award for Jazz Composition and the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year in 2017. She also received The Guardian's 'Jazz Album of the Month' in the Guardian Newspaper 2019. She has recently been awarded a PRS Foundation 'Sustaining Creativity' Award and a Help Musician's 'Transmission Fund' to study with artists and composers worldwide.
Jez Franks (guitars) is a jazz musician, educator and composer. He co-led the Quartet ‘Compassionate Dictatorship’ for many years with Tori Freestone and has toured and recorded with a variety of ensembles and artists, including Tom Arthur’s ‘Centripede’, Gerard Presencer, Ingrid Jensen, Rick Astley and Monday Murchuri. He has performed on the BBC ‘Jazz on 3’, at various festivals and toured all over the UK and Europe.
John Turville (piano, keys) is one of the leading jazz pianists of his generation and has won multiple awards for his two trio albums including MOJO’s #3 Jazz Album of the Year and ‘Best Album’ in the Parliamentary Awards 2011. He also won ‘Best Instrumentalist’ in the 2010 London Jazz Awards and the 2009 PRS Promoter’s Choice Award and was a semi-finalist in the Martial Solal Jazz Piano Concours in 2010. He has toured and recorded throughout Europe and the Middle East with many renowned jazz and tango groups, including the Dave Binney/Julian Arguelles Quintet, Tim Garland, the Tony Kofi/Alan Barnes Quintet, Karios 4tet, Asaf Sirkis Trio, Gilad Atzmon and Matt Ridley Quartet, John is also an experienced composer and arranger for strings, voices, jazz and tango ensembles, and an experienced educator. He is the principal jazz piano tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Purcell School, and has coached and adjudicated ensembles at the Guildhall and Trinity College.
Dave Manington (double bass) has played with most of the top jazz musicians in the country…luminaries such as Yazz Ahmed, Mark Lockhart, Tim Garland, Iain Ballamy, Gwyneth Herbert, Michael Garrick, Julian Arguelles, Marius Neset, Pete Wareham, Gwilym Simcock, Pete King, Martin Speake, Alan Barnes, Tim Whitehead, Salena Jones, Roberto Pla, Tina May, Martin Shaw and John Etheridge amongst many others. He's also in demand for a broad range of different ensembles, playing with musicians from South America to the Balkans both as a performer and as a compositional collaborator. He has composed for and led his own septet, trios, and quartet, while also contributing music to many other artists’ projects. He is also a founder member of the much-respected Loop collective and the E17 Jazz Collective.
George Hart (drums) is a versatile and accomplished London-based drummer. He collaborates with many of the most talented jazz musicians of his generation and for the past 10 years has performed on countless live gigs and studio sessions. Currently, George enjoys working with the Matt Ridley Quartet, Emily Saunders Band (ESB), Eric Ranzoni, The Stowaways (featuring Mike Edmonds, Carl Orr and Josh Kemp), Colin McKenzie’s Intransit and Jazzbomb. George features on albums by Brigitte Beraha, Ivo Neame, Phil Donkin, Seb Pipe, Yazz Ahmed, Dave Lee, Eric Ranzoni and Matt Ridley. George has also shared the stage with numerous distinguished musicians and ensembles, including Swing Out Sister, Chris Laurence Quartet (featuring John Parricelli & Frank Ricotti), Iain Ballamy, Tim Garland, Gwilym Simcock, Geoff Gascoyne, Jasper Høiby, Ivo Neame, Phil Donkin, Yazz Ahmed, London Jazz Orchestra, Laurence Cottle and many more.
