Roger Turner / Pat Thomas / Shabaka Hutchings - In Memory of Roy Campbell Jr

Event information

Originally a date for a quartet of master American trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr alongside Roger Turner on drums, Steve Williamson on saxophone and Pat Thomas on piano. Roy very sadly passed away in January this year - we'll always remember the masterclass he gave with this quartet in his first appearance at OTO in 2013. In tribute, Roger Turner and Pat Thomas will be performing in a trio with Shabaka Hutchings on saxophone.

"When you play the trumpet, you are essentially pushing a large tube of metal into your face, amplifying the pressurized vibration of your lips, turning that buzz into music. Some players strive to hide this, making the instrument sound as smooth and consistent as possible. Others, from Bubber Miley to Lee Morgan to Don Cherry, relish this physicality, exposing the blood and sweat and spit that goes into the instrument, embracing the raw humanity captured in brass. The great Roy Campbell, Jr., who passed away this week, was definitely of the latter group." - from the New Yorker obituary of Roy Campbell Jr

PAT THOMAS / piano

Pat Thomas studied classical piano from aged 8 and started playing Jazz from the age of 16. He has since gone on to develop an utterly unique style - embracing improvisation, jazz and new music. He has played with Derek Bailey in Company Week (1990/91) and in the trio AND (with Noble) – with Tony Oxley’s Quartet and Celebration Orchestra and in Duo with Lol Coxhill.

"Sartorially shabby as Thomas may be, and on first impression even rather stolid, he has a somewhat imperious charisma that’s immediately amplified when he starts to play. Unlike other pianists whose virtuosity seems to be racing ahead of their thought processes Thomas always seems supremely in command of his gift, and his playing, no matter how free and ready to tangle with abstraction, always carries a charge of authoritative exactitude." The Jazzmann

ROGER TURNER / drums, percussion

Roger Turner is applauded for his precision and speed since he entered the London improvising scene in the 1970s. His restricted drum kit is extended by found objects to create a sound comparable to no other. He’s played with Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Otomo Yoshihide, Shelley Hirsch, Joëlle Léandre, Keith Rowe...

“Turner [used] brushes to create a wild spattering and scattering of sound from cymbal and snare, with sudden explosions from tom and kick drums. At times in this early passage he sounded like rain on a caravan roof, at others like a tool box in the back of a moving van” - Molloy Woodcraft, The Guardian

SHABAKA HUTCHINGS / saxophones

Shabaka Hutchings plays tenor sax,bass clarinet, clarinet. Described by the BBC as "one of the most eclectic and musically adventurous instrumentalists on the London jazz scene", Hutchings grew up in Barbados and studied clarinet at the Guildhall School of Music. One of the capitals busiest saxophonists he straddles both the avant garde and jazz orthodoxy leading the trio ZED-U and performing with Jazz Warriors, The London Improvisors Orchestra, The Heights, Louis Moholo, Charlie Hadens Liberation Orchestra, Jack DeJohnette All Stars, as well as Speech Debelle, Gary Crosbys Nu Troop and Red Snapper.

In September 2010 Hutchings was confirmed as a 'BBC New Generation Artist'.

'Shabaka is a veritable cauldron of creativity ... an emerging Brit-jazz star if ever there was one' Jazzwise