History
Formed in the 1980s and including 25-plus members, The Jazz Warriors became a showcase for talented young black British musicians, many of whom - including Courtney Pine, Steve Williamson, Cleveland Watkiss, Phillip Bent, Orphy Robinson, Gary Crosby and others - went on to achieve international success.
Former member Crosby has said of the Jazz Warriors:
There were all these different writers, but everything ended up sounding with the same energy. I've never felt anything like that energy — raucous, raw.... It wasn't the most accurate of bands, but the actual power, and the wildness of the soloing.... It was so exciting. Regardless of who wrote what, once we got to the meat of the music, there were fireworks.... A lot of spunk, man, a lot of testosterone going around!
The Jazz Warriors released only one album: Out of Many, One People, in 1987. They continued performing and touring under the leadership of pianist Adrian Reid, with the help of a committee formed from senior members of the Warriors, until formally closing in the late 1990s. An EP, Chameleon, was released on their own label, Jazz Warriors Records. It was well received internationally and appeared on a bestselling compilation, The Rebirth of the Cool Vol 2 (4th & B'way Records; 1993), with an unreleased album still in the cans. Certain new young members continued to gain national prominence and further highlighting the talent pool of young Black musicians attracted to the Jazz Warriors; these included Jason Yarde, Dennis Rollins, Winston Rollins, Robert Mitchell, Clarence Adoo, Byron Wallen, Rowland Sutherland, Tony Kofi, Robert Fordjour, Steve and Peter Lewinson, Tony Remy, Patrick Clahar to name a few.
Read more about this topic: Jazz Warriors
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (18741936)
“I think that Richard Nixon will go down in history as a true folk hero, who struck a vital blow to the whole diseased concept of the revered image and gave the American virtue of irreverence and skepticism back to the people.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)