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Rowland Sutherland

Rowland Sutherland, flute player, bandleader, composer, arranger and educator.

About Me

Rowland Sutherland

'...improviser of real character'. John Fordham - THE GUARDIAN

Flautist, Rowland Sutherland enjoys an international career in many different fields of music. He regularly performs in Jazz groups as well as with various non-Western groups, new music ensembles, symphony orchestras, pop outfits and as a soloist.

He has composed and arranged music for groups, ensembles and for the BBC. Composition commissions include those written for the percussion quartet “Ensemble Bash”, the contemporary music group “New Music Players” and Lontano and the Fidelio Trio.

Rowland studied flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama mainly with Kathryn Lukas and studied jazz with the late Lionel Grigson in the mid 1980s.

Rowland Sutherland fronts his own band, the critically acclaimed Mistura, who perform Brazilian jazz fusion alondside Afro-Cuban and pan African grooves. Mistura have an album - ‘Coast to Coast’ on the FMR label.

Mistura have performed at a number of the leading jazz festivals in Europe Including Glastonbury. In 1998, Mistura supported the legendary pianist and singer Tania Maria at the QEH in London. They went down a storm at the Ritmos Festa do Mundo 95 - Porto, Portugal which also featured Salif Keita & Irakere.

'A no nonesense eight piece band blending hot Latin rhythms with sophisticated jazz based arrangements and soloing led by a London flautist prominent on the scene... TIME OUT

“ A distinctive, harmonious and fiery sound” CITY LIMITS 'Impressive'. Phil Johnson - THE INDEPENDENT

Rowland Sutherland Quartet w/ Ansuman Biswas, Pat Thomas and Guillaume Viltard, a new dynamic group of highly respected musicians that performs improvised music, spiritual and cosmic jazz.

He performs Caribbean and Brazilian influenced contemporary jazz in his Rowland Sutherland Sextet.

Rowland's contemporary jazz group, which uses Afro-funk, UK dance and reggae rhythms, called 'Creative Force' features the award winning vibes player Orphy Robinson.

Rowland’s trio Myrtle with Alwynne Pritchard (voice) and Thorolf Thuestad (computer) performs songs and free improv.

Rowland's involvement with Brazilian music has led him to play and record with the London 'Afro Blok' that largely consists of various types of African and Brazilian percussion instruments, horns and vocals. In 1994 they represented Great Britain at the Commonwealth Games Arts festival in Vancouver Island. Rowland has also performed with 'Olodum', the famous Afro Bloc from Bahia, Brazil, (who appeared on Paul Simon's 'Rhythm of the Saints' album of 1992 & Michael Jackson's album 'History') and a number of influential Brazilian artists including: the late legendary ex Weather Report drummer and percussionist Dom Um Romao, the cult singer/songwriter Joyce and the renowned multi- percussionist Nana Vasconcellos. He has also appeared on stage with composer and multi- instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal as well as with Flora Purim and Airto.

Rowland was a member of several eminent jazz outfits. These included the big band Jazz Warriors founded by saxophonist Courtney Pine, and Orphy Robinson's Sextet 'Annavas', appearing on their album “When Tomorrow Comes” on the Blue Note label. Rowland performed in the colourful 11 piece jazz ensemble led by soprano and tenor sax player Mark Lockheart, 'The Scratch Band' who have two albums out, 'Through Rose Coloured Glasses' and 'Imaginary Dances'. He also solo'd alongside Jean Toussaint with the dynamic raga 'n' beats Indian group ShivaNova.

Rowland performs with composer and baritone saxophonist and composer Issie Barratt's Meinrad Iten Quartet and Arrange of Space large ensemble. He features on their recordings Issie Barratt’s Meinrad Iten Suite and Astral Pleasures respectively.

'...enriched by Rowland Sutherland's lovely flute sound...'. John Fordham - The GUARDIAN.

Rowland's jazz experience also includes working in a number of collaborations, performances and recordings with other artists. These include: touring with US saxophonist / bass clarinetist David Murray; recording with African master drummer Gaspar Lawal; playing with the 'Rebirth Brass Band' from New Orleans; recording with Pops Mohamed, master percussionist from Southern Africa; an historic flute concert with Frank Wess and Ali Ryerson during the 1995 London Jazz Festival, and in 1996 his tour with the Phoenix Dance Company concluded with performances at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

Rowland has also performed and or recorded with UK based jazz artists such as Orphy Robinson, Jean Toussaint, Zoe Rahman, Shabaka Hutchings, Steve Williamson, Courtney Pine, Issie Barratt, Cleveland Watkiss, Alec Dankworth, Denys Baptiste, Byron Wallen, Nikki Yeoh, Guy Barker, LIO and David Jean - Baptiste.

Other International Jazz, Improv and World Music artists Rowland has performed with include such international artists as Henry Threadgil, Carla Bley, Manu Dibango, Steve Swallow, Joyce, Craig Harris, Evan Parker, Nitin Sawhney, Paulo Fresu, Elizabeth Harnik, Renee Baker, Dennis Rollins, Filomena Campus, King Sunny Ade, Olodum and Rebirth Brass Band.

'...featuring peerless flautist Rowland Sutherland'. John L. Walters - THE GUARDIAN

He plays and records with a number of new music ensembles and dance companies. These include: Icebreaker, Lontano, notes inegales, New Music Players, Colin Currie Group and Ixion. Rowland has also played with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the Composers Ensemble, Uroboros, Ensemble Expose, London Musici, Decibel, Phoenix Dance and Rambert Dance.

In March 2002 Rowland performed in a concerto by Stewart Wallace, written for the electric group Icebreaker with the American Composers Orchestra, at New York's Carnegie Hall.The event was conducted by the Orchestras' music director designate Steven Sloane.

Orchestras Rowland has played with include: Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony, B.B.C. National Orchestra Of Wales, London Philharmonic, European Community Chamber, BBC Concert, Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet and B.B.C. Radio. He played principal flute with the latter four.

In addition to the above, Rowland has enjoyed guesting on flutes for various pop artists' recordings over the years such as: George Benson, Mezzoforte, MC Solaar, Incognito, Ed Harcourt, Roland Gift, Omar, Marc Almond and Colonial Cousins. Rowland has also participated in various radio, TV recordings and film soundtracks including Interstellar, Harry Potter, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Madaline and Les Lyonnais.

Rowland Sutherland is also active as a composer and his recent composition Enlightenment (In the Spirit of A Love Supreme) has received a lot of praise following sold out performances of the work at James Lavelle’s Meltdown 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where it received standing ovations.

The line-up: Rowland Sutherland (flt, comp), Steve Williamson, Shabaka Hutchings, Ansuman Biswas, Tunde Jegede, Crispin Robinson, Dave Pattman, Oli Savill, Cleveland Watkiss, Juwon Ogungbe, Orphy Robinson (MD), Pat Thomas, Nikki Yeoh, Neil Charles and Mark Mondesir.

What the Press and music sites said:

‘…imaginative flautist/composer Rowland Sutherland's A Love Supreme Re-envisioned… … unleashed some of the year's most searingly exciting live jazz.’ The Guardian - John Fordham - 23 June 2014

‘Sutherland’s score is an imaginative and detailed addition to the Love Supreme legacy that adds contemporary context to the religious underpinning of Coltrane’s heritage…’ FT - Mike Hobart - 23 June 2014

‘A Love Supreme… it is a piece that reminds us whatever genre or era, truly original music has a uniquely transcendental and empowering energy, something which British flautist and composer Rowland Sutherland's re-envisioned suite conveys in all its ambitious multi- ethnic splendour.’ www.flutefocus.com - Sarah Chaplin - 2 July 2014

Rowland is currently a professor at both Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music, Kent University and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. He has given consultations, workshops or coached at MIT, the Royal Academy of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire, Sussex, York and Durham Universities as well as The Centre for Young Musicians, Morley College.

“Flautist Rowland Sutherland has a superb sound and technique, and is undoubtedly one of the very best flautists on the British scene”. TIME OUT.