Ingrid Laubrock Nonet // Django Bates stoRMChaser

Ingrid Laubrock Nonet

Her life began at 18 – at least the sequel that took her to England and saw the beginning of her relationship with the alto sax. London and her studies with former Jazz-Messenger Jean Toussaint marked the beginning of her career. In a further sequel she went to America where she refined her stylistics with David Liebman.

Meanwhile Ingrid Laubrock has become one of the most sought-after saxophonists of the British scene. Her strong passion for Brazilian music goes back to her days of “Britain for beginners”, when it was easier to perform with other immigrants than to cross swords with the domestic establishment. She was nominated for the “Rising Star of the Year 1999” and in 2004 received the “BBC Jazz Award for Innovation” as a member of the Fellowship for Integrated Rhythmic Expression, better known as the F-ire Collective.

Django Bates stoRMChaser

When Django Bates, with his big band Loose Tubes, out of the blue crashed into the European jazz scenery in the mid 80s, he created a new musical mixture combining punk, compact sounds and collective improvisations with the cultural diversity of the British empire. Django Bates has changed the appearance and attitude of European jazz profoundly. He confronted New York patchwork jazz with his own varieties and boldly merged complex jazz themes with banal popular songs. His music has throughout remained vital and provocative and at the age of 47 Bates is still counted among the protagonists of the ‘young’ English scene. In 1997 he was awarded the much valued Danish Jazzpar prize. He currently holds a professorship at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, rising to the new challenge of working with the conservatory’s big band.