We are thrilled to announce that world-class soloist, composer, bandleader and saxophonist Chris Potter will lead the second residency and tour in the Jazz Directors Series. To form the Inner City Ensemble, we are looking for emerging professionals aged over 18 who play to a very high standard (graduate equivalent and above) with excellent jazz improvisation and reading skills and who specialise in jazz and related ‘crossover’ genres. This is a paid professional engagement.

Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. Down Beat called him “One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet” while Jazz Times identified him as “a figure of international renown”. Jazz sax elder statesman Dave Liebman called him simply “one of the best musicians around”, a sentiment shared by the readers of Down Beat in voting him second only to tenor sax great Sonny Rollins in the magazine’s 2008 Readers Poll.

A potent improvisor and the youngest musician ever to win Denmark’s Jazzpar Prize, Potter’s impressive discography includes 15 albums as a leader, and sideman appearances on over 100 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo work on “In Vogue,” a track from Joanne Brackeen’s 1999 album Pink Elephant Magic, and was prominently featured on Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning album from 2000, Two Against Nature. He has performed or recorded with many of the leading names in jazz, including Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, the Mingus Big Band, Jim Hall, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas and Ray Brown.

Over one week from Sun 9 – 16 April 2017, the Inner City Ensemble will rehearse and perform specially written arrangements of original works by Potter including pieces composed for his Underground Orchestra album Imaginary Cities, released on ECM in 2015.

“I’m very much looking forward to this project, both for the chance of working with a group of exceptional young British musicians and also as an opportunity to try out a batch of new music for my Underground Orchestra ensemble. Since completing my Imaginary Cities album a couple of years ago, I’ve been looking for a reason to write some more material for this group, which has a fairly unusual instrumentation. This situation gives me the opportunity to do just that, and I hope the musicians I work with will enjoy the process as much as I have conceiving and writing it.” – Chris Potter

We are looking for musicians who play the following:

Piano
Double Bass
Bass Guitar
Vibraphone doubling Marimba
Drums
Guitars (Electric and Semi-Acoustic)
Violin*
Violin*
Viola*
Cello*

(*Jazz improvisation and chord symbol reading skills would be an asset in the string quartet).

 

APPLY HERE

 

Produced by Band on the Wall in partnership Brighter Sound and Root Music with support from Jazz North. Supported by Arts Council England.