Julian Woods

Julian Woods is a musician, composer and improviser based in London. He recently graduated with a distinction in Jazz Performance from the Guildhall School of Music in London, and has recently performed at the Vortex Jazz Club, Cafe OTO, Wigmore Hall, Porgy & Bess (Vienna), INNtoene Jazz Festival, and Pizza Express. He performs on guitars (microtonal or regular), bass guitars (fretted or fretless), and double bass.

Julian's musical interests include microtonality, free improvisation, polystylism and maximalism. His influences include John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Anton Webern, Gyorgy Ligeti, Harry Partch, John Cage and Alex Paxton. He is involved in a variety of projects, including co-directing the London Improvisers Orchestra, leading his own original music ensembles, collaborating with the Guildhall New Music Society, playing and writing for Sam Eastmond's Composers Workshop Big Band, and being a member of the Vortex Jazz Club's Whirlpool Collective.

The musicians Julian has worked with include Maggie Nicols, Steve Beresford, Alex Paxton, Philipp Gerschlauer, Tom Challenger, Charlotte Keeffe, Phil Minton, Oren Marshall, Maddie Ashman, John Butcher, Corrie Dick, Sam Eastmond, Fergus Quill, Caius Williams, and Mahan Mirarab.

In 2024, Julian released 'Every swing has a silver roundabout', which explores microtonality, polystylism and free improvisation. The track is the first release of his new Berlin-based trio with Philipp Gerschlauer and Diego Pinera. Later that year, he was awarded a position as a curator at the Vortex Jazz Club, alongside a handful of other recent music college graduates, who together form the Whirlpool Collective, hosting a monthly residency.

In 2022, Julian released his debut single onto streaming services, his reimagining of a Charles Ives quartertone piano work, arranged for two electric guitars and performed by himself and guitar virtuoso Ant Law. This won 3rd place in the International Microtonal Guitar Competition and received praise from Grammy-winning guitarist John Schneider and others.

Awards

Help Musicians Postgraduate Award

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