Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson

Over the past two decades saxophonist and composer Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson has crafted an unmistakable sound that is deeply communicative. He has performed with leading jazz artists on both sides of the Atlantic including: Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Jeff Watts, Mark Turner, Geoff Keezer, Bheki Mseleku, Courtney Pine, Clark Tracey, Gary Husband, Julian Joseph and others.Accepted into Berklee College of Music at the age of 17, by 20 he had already recorded two albums ‘Emanon’ & ‘The Path’ featuring many of the leading lights of British jazz including; Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Steve Williamson and Cleveland Watkiss.Vaughan's recordings have been described as “...an accomplished, powerful and spiritually uplifting..”. ‘The Gift’ followed a year later and is imbued with a spirit of joy and release. To hear his music, one can be in no doubt of his ability to engage the greatests depths of music.In 1999 Vaughan released ‘See You There’ featuring a stellar cast: South African pianist Bheki Mseleku, Mark Mondesir on drums and Jeremy Brown on acoustic bass. Bheki was to be an ideal companion to the searching sound of his music. The album and subsequent tour cemented Vaughan’s reputation as a world class performer and was followed in 2001 by the live release of the band in fiery form ‘Live at The Wardrobe’.In 2005 Vaughan wrote ‘The Freedom Suite’ receiving its premier performance at The Purcell Room in London with maestros Julian Joseph on piano and Gary Husband on drums. The suite is dedicated to Aram Rawf a Kurdish asylum seeker and close friend of Vaughan’s fighting Home Office deportation to war torn Iraq. The immediacy of its message of healing, hope and unity is a welcome response to the current social and political landscape.Vaughan formed a new band in 2007, Emanon IV featuring: Asaf Sirkis on drums, Robert Mitchell on piano and Malcolm Creese on Bass. Watch out for perfromances in Autumn 2008.