Born in West London of Jamaican parents, Gary Crosby has been acknowledged as one of this country's pioneer Black British jazz talents and one of the most important bandleaders in the UK.
Gary studied the double bass under Peter Ind and, from starting as a member of Ed Bentley's band, went on to work with many accomplished artists such as George Lee, Frank Roberts, Peter Segona and Roger Thomas.
In 1985, Gary became one of the founder members of the Jazz Warriors, the formation of which was one of the most important events in British jazz history. Since then, he has played with other notable luminaries including Courtney Pine, Ernest Ranglin (Garys uncle), Art Farmer, Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Sonny Fortune, Stanley Turrentine, Jean Toussaint, Julian Joseph, Art Blakey, Jon Hendricks, Larry Coryell, Carmen Lundy, Marlene Shaw, Vanessa Rubin, Steve Williamson, Julian Joseph, Orphy Robinson, Johnny Griffin, Cleveland Watkiss, and more.
Gary leads three key bands of his own (Gary Crosby's Nu Troop, Jazz Jamaica, Jazz Jamaica All Stars - see www.myspace.com/nutroop and www.myspace.com/jazzjamaica) providing regular employment for several young musicians. In many ways, he is regarded as a latter-day Art Blakey figure, using his own outfits as a platform for talented young artists to develop their profiles. All of his bands have toured internationally and are ranked amongst the best bands in world.
Gary is well known for his unbounded and tireless commitment to helping young people - musicians, dancers, writers and visual artists - develop successful careers in jazz, and this has been duly acknowledged by his receipt, in 1993, of a Straight No Chaser magazine award for services to the industry and, later, in his entries in the Grove Encyclopaedia of Jazz, the Guinness Book of Who's Who In Jazz, The Rough Guide To Jazz and several other music reference publications. Over the years, he has gained the respect of musicians, promoters, arts organisations and others involved in the music industry, not only for his musical skills, but also for his vision and ability to make things happen.
As individual members of the Jazz Warriors drifted off to pursue solo careers, the big band was eventually disbanded leaving a vacuum in the jazz scene as there was no creative network or peer support for young musicians. In 1991, Gary established Tomorrow's Warriors, providing a platform and peer network for talented young musicians who wished to pursue a career in jazz. He established a weekly jam session at London's celebrated Jazz Cafe in Camden, inviting young musicians to join him on stage to jam. This jam session provided a regular performance outlet for hundreds of musicians over the years and can claim a certain amount of credit for bringing many of today's rising and established jazz stars into the public's and media's awareness.
Over the next 13 years, Gary established the Tomorrow's Warriors weekly Jazz Cafe Jam Session as something of an institution and, in the process, developed five generations of Warriors (Nu Troop, J-Life, Denys Baptiste Quartet, Soweto Kinch Quartet, Andrew McCormack Trio) into leading artists/bands on the international jazz scene. Other groups, too, have emerged from the core bands including Jade Fox and Empirical.
In 2004, the Tomorrow's Warriors Jam Session moved to its current residence at The Spice Of Life in the heart of London's Soho district. It is now the longest running, and most highly regarded jam session in London (and possibly the UK). Tomorrow's Warriors continues to develop the careers of young musicians and is now commencing the development of its sixth and seventh generation of Warriors.
In 1995, Gary was engaged by Mercury Music Entertainment (formerly Nippon Phonogram) to coordinate an album featuring many of the original Jazz Warriors paying tribute to the reggae star, Bob Marley. The album, One Love: A Tribute To Bob Marley, was released in Japan in February 1996 and later, worldwide, featuring Courtney Pine, Orphy Robinson, Cleveland Watkiss, Juliet Roberts, Carroll Thompson, Dennis Rollins, Omar, Tony Remy, Steve Williamson, and Noel McCoy.
In 1996, Gary and his partner, Janine Irons, established The Dune Music Company Ltd, a commercial company comprising of four operational divisions: artist management, record label, music publishing, and education. Since Dune's first release in 1997, Gary and Janine have established the label as one of the highest quality independent labels in the world, and this has been duly acknowledged by the several awards and international media acclaim bestowed on Dune, its artists and directors. To date, 23 awards have been won, including two Mercury Music Prize awards for An Album Of The Year, two MOBO awards, an Urban Music Award, several BBC Jazz Awards and, in 2006 an MBE awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (to co-director, Janine Irons).
Gary was the producer of the album that earned the label its first Mercury Prize Award for An Album Of The Year and MOBO award (with Denys Baptiste's Be Where You Are). In 2002, Gary was nominated for the BBC Jazz Award for Services To Jazz and picked up the award for Best Band for his 20-piece big band, Jazz Jamaica All Stars. In the same year, he was honoured by the Festival Directorate of the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival, Jamaica for Consistent Contribution To Music In Jamaica, thereby securing a place in the Jamaica Jazz Hall Of Fame.
In 2006, Gary was nominated for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards for Services To Jazz and for Education. His band, Jazz Jamaica picked up the award for Ensemble Of The Year.
In 2007 Gary was announced as the recipient of this year’s BBC Award for Services To Jazz.
This prestigious award honours Gary for his tireless commitment to the art form and to his long-term mentoring of aspiring young jazz musicians in their quest to become successful professional artists. Reporting on the launch of this year’s BBC Awards in The Guardian, chief Jazz critic, John Fordham had this to say:
“… one in particular was greeted with an affection that might have been accorded to a family member - which, in terms of encouraging new generations on the British jazz scene, he is in a way. That was Tomorrow's Warriors and Jazz Jamaica bassist Gary Crosby, a man who encouraged Courtney Pine to find his feet all of 20 years ago and is still doing it for aspiring young players today - particularly those from backgrounds that don't necessarily give them the breaks.â€
Gary is an Executive Director of Tomorrow's Warriors Ltd and The Dune Music Company Ltd, responsible for artistic direction.
