Go here for more info on award
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/jazzawards2007/jon3_innovation.sh
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Kidsamonium
Kidsamonium is a fun, magical musical event aimed at 6 to 14 year olds with a view to letting kids see the exciting power and freedom of jazz & improvised music up close in a format they can digest. Short contributions by a range of artists (including a join-in mass 'Percussion Discussion') combine with performances and interactive musical games by a crack(pot) troupe of musical characters including the mysterious Trombone playing 'Chickens in the Sky', the madcap 'Aviator' Billy Jenkins, the ‘Big Tuba Kid’ Oren Marshall, the Princess Laura MacDonald, the ‘Boost’ Joost Buis from Holland, ‘Monsieur Parp’ Patrick Charboonier from rance, and Judge Claude Deppa from South Africa. It is all led by Tom Bancroft ‘the King’.
4 Star review in The Times 19-3-07
Alyn Shipton
" Kidsamonium†ensured that the centre was
packed with excited youthful audiences early in the morning, many of whom stayed
on for the free concerts that followed. Dressed as an outsize Elvis, Bancroft
has a sense of spectacle. The guitarist Billy Jenkins flew across the auditorium
on wires, then the band burst into the foyer pursued by a brass ensemble of
giant chickens, only to continue back inside with the whole crowd playing along
on give-away kazoos. On the concourse, Bancroft placed coloured discs on the
floor. When anyone set foot on them, a brass band on an upper level played a
chord. Branford Marsalis and Andy Sheppard were among the high profile disc-hoppers,
jumping from colour to colour, and improvising to the chords from above. The
result? Plenty of delighted shrieks and laughs from dozens of under12s, many
of whom were hearing live music for the first time."
Orchestro Interrupto:
Once called the Tom Bancroft
Orchestra this band is so called because it has been working together intermittently
since 1990, features the cream of the scottish jazz scene as well as some musically
charismatic interlopers from elsewhere. It doesnt play together so often but
when it does it tends to be an event.
New studio album coming out in 2007 featuring Chick Lyall on piano!!
See review of last tour in blog