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Alexander Hawkins Ensemble
Top Ten Albums of 2009, Bill Shoemaker, Village Voice
Best Debut Album of 2009, Bill Shoemaker, Village Voice
Top Ten Albums of 2009, Clifford Allen, Ni Kantu, Village Voice
Best Debut Album of 2009, Clifford Allen, Village Voice
Top Albums of 2009, Derek Taylor, Dusted
Top Sessions of 2009, BBC Radio 3, Jazz on 3
Since it's first concerts in 2007, the Alexander Hawkins Ensemble has been one of the most creative jazz ensembles on the scene. The original line-up - Javier Carmona, Otto Fischer, Alexander Hawkins, Dominic Lash, Hannah Marshall, and Orphy Robinson - played its final concert in January 2011. With Carmona and Lash moving to live abroad, this gig represents the debut of a new personnel, retaining Robinson, Marshall, and Fischer, but adding BBC New Generation Artist Shabaka Hutchings on bass clarinet, as well as the world class tuba and drums of Oren Marshall and Mark Sanders.
The Ensemble exploits its highly unusual instrumentation to explore structural boundaries and the intersections of compositions and improvisation. Featuring original compositions by the leader (labelled by All About Jazz as ‘one of the brightest rising young stars of British jazz and improvisation’, and by one All About Jazz New York writer as 'Musician of the Year' in 2010) together with arrangements of works by composers such as Braxton, Ellington, Ra and others, the musicians come together to create a compelling and unique soundworld. As put by one reviewer, ‘[t]he range of tonal colors and breadth of activity that this ensemble can actualize is staggering’. The Ensemble has been featured on BBC Radio 3's 'Jazz on 3' programme, and well as on that show's 'best sessions of 2009' broadcast.
The group's debut album, No Now Is So, was variously called 'an incredible record' (Bagatellen) and 'an unqualified success' (All About Jazz), and appeared in various 'best album' and 'best debut album' of 2009 lists in the US and the UK. Their second album, recorded after a tour in 2010, will be released later this year.
The band members’ performance/recording credits include with Evan Parker, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Joe McPhee, Steve Reid, Sonny Simmons, Brandon Ross, the Jazz Warriors, Mulatu Astatke, Lester Bowie, Don Cherry, Peter Brotzmann, Ken Vandemark, Bobby McFerrin, and many others.
www.alexanderhawkins.com
www.myspace.com/ottofischer
www.myspace.com/shabakahutchings
www.myspace.com/hannahmarshallmusician
www.orenmarshall.com
www.myspace.com/orphyrobinson
www.marksanders.me.uk
