BASIE & BEYOND!

NATIONAL YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA
MARK ARMSTRONG – DIRECTOR

We are thrilled to welcome the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for a sensational opening to the 2022 summer festival.

Jazz has been thrilling audiences across the world for over a hundred years. In that time generations of new musicians have expressed themselves through a rich variety of style, taste and regional inflection.

‘lucid romanticism/pirouetting through Gillespie’s breaks quicker than a hummingbird’s wings’ – Alyn Shipton, The Times

In this programme, NYJO explores the impact on music made by Count Basie and twentieth-century Black American artists that followed: Frank Foster, Dizzy Gillespie, Tadd Dameron, Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones, and Thad Jones. We invite you to join us in celebrating the spirit of invention, the repurposing and reimagining, the innovation and soul of these great Jazz masters.

‘I have been in love with swing since playing Splanky for the first time as a teenage trumpet player. As I have explored this music I have drawn constant inspiration from the combination of a great groove and the variety of colours that skilled writers create, from raw excitement to subtle, expressive textures. I hope you enjoy listening to this music as much as the band enjoy playing it!’ – Mark Armstrong, NYJO Director