Jazz Articles about Django Bates

About Django Bates

Album Review

Django Bates / Frankfurt Radio Big Band: Saluting Sgt. Pepper

Read "Saluting Sgt. Pepper" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
June 22, 2017

Django Bates stellar career has been far less celebrated than it deserves to be, at least on this, somewhat myopic, side of the Atlantic. Born in Kent, on the outskirts of London, he has achieved prominence as a multi-instrumentalist, band leader and composer. In the early part of his career he created Human Chain and the large-scale orchestra Delightful Precipice but drew the most attention for his pivotal composing for Loose Tubes. That large cooperative included Julian Argüelles, Steve Argüelles, ...

Live Review

Tampere Jazz Happening 2014

by Henning Bolte
November 21, 2014

Tampere Jazz Happening Tampere, Finland October 30--November 2, 2014 On the way from the airport to the city of Tampere you pass by Nokia, situated fifteen kilometres west of Tampere, the Scandinavian city famous for its gumboots and cables, and famous for its mobile phones. For a while 'Nokia' was synonymous with mobile phone. When you arrive in Tampere you can immediately recognize the industrial character and history of the town. The Finnish territories were ...

Profile

Django Bates: From Zero to Sixty in Five Days

by John Kelman
August 5, 2013

It's rare enough to get to catch the premiere of a brand new work in a location as removed as Luleå, Sweden—just 100 kilometers south of the Arctic circle and in late May already experiencing 22-hour days and temperatures between 20 and 25 Celsius. But to get to experience the birth of a commission and to arrive on the same day as the artist and enter the rehearsal room at the same time? An unexpected pleasure. The chance to follow ...

Album Review

Django Bates Beloved: Confirmation

Read "Confirmation" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
September 10, 2012

In the jazz world, groups often convene for special projects, though, more often than not, the participants then usually go their separate ways, even if the underlying concept- -or, even, just the band's chemistry--suggests further continuance. When Django Bates put together Belovèd Bird (Lost Marble, 2010), it seemed likely that the maverick British pianist, composer and foundation shaker's off-the-wall tribute to bebop progenitor/saxophonist Charlie Bird" Parker would be a one-off. Now, two years later, Confirmation finds the same trio back ...

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Extended Analysis

Django Bates: Like Life

by Chris May
August 18, 2011

Django BatesLike LifeStoryville2011 (1998) If you had to choose one artifact which is emblematic of the work of the British composer, bandleader and keyboards and e-flat horn player Django Bates, then his notorious “derangement" of John Kander and Fred Ebb's “New York, New York" would be a contender. It does not matter that “New York, New York" is one of the few tunes in Bates' band book that ...

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Album Review

Django Bates Beloved: Beloved Bird

Read "Beloved Bird" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
February 5, 2011

Django Bates claims that he heard Charlie Parker records on the day he was born. Fifty years later, Bates has formed Belovèd, giving life to his longstanding love for Parker's music on his trio's debut, Belovèd Bird. It's an album that ably demonstrates how love means never having to play in the same old way, for this sparklingly inventive album is not a retread of old Parker arrangements, but a reappraisal of the sound--a reconstruction based on Bates' strongly-held belief ...

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Interview

Django Bates: Spring Is Here (A Long Time Coming But Worth The Wait)

by Chris May
July 14, 2008

July, 2008: It's been 13 years since British composer and keyboards/peck horn player Django Bates released the third album in his “four seasons" series, Winter Truce (And Homes Blaze) (Winter & Winter, 1995). That album followed close behind Autumn Fire (And Green Shoots) (Winter & Winter, 1994) and Summer Fruits (And Unrest) (Winter & Winter, 1993).It has long been Bates's intention to complete the series with a spring-themed album, and in June, 2008 he finally did so with ...