KILLER SHRIMP is a new project co led by two of the UK's leading jazz musicians trumpeter Damon Brown and saxophonist Ed Jones. They are joined by the awesomely talented rhythm section of bassist Mark Hodgson and drummer Troy Miller.
Killer Shrimp released their debut album Sincerely Whatever on 33 records to critical acclaim in spring 2006 and followed up with hugely successful 21 date Uk tour. They have since then completed four further tours of the Uk.
They are recent winners of the Parliamentary Jazz Award BEST JAZZ ENSEMBLE 2007 and their debut album SINCERELY WHATEVER was also nominated for BEST JAZZ CD 2007.
SINCERELY WHATEVER blends and blurs the lines between the new and the old.
Dispite a forward looking and modern sensibility the music always retains its commitment to the jazz tradition. The album features 5 new compositions apiece from both Jones and Brown and new arrangements of Tadd Dameron And Blue Mitchell compositions.
Hip/Hop, Drum n Bass, Funk and Latin grooves rub shoulders with Straight Ahead Swing, free wheeling Improvisation, and textures created with modern studio technology.
As DAMON says: The project is very much a culmination of many years spent touring with each others bands and our friendship on and off stage. Its a vehicle for both our writing and playing and an attempt to expand into, for us, some new areas. Although rooted in straight-ahead jazz, the music is quite eclectic and touches at times on drum and bass, Latin and funk. Both Ed and I have worked a lot in groove-related projects over the years and wanted to do something that stayed close to the spirit of jazz and improvisation but that also incorporated some different rhythms and more open textures than we usually incorporate in our quintets.
ED also adds: For me the title of the album really sums it up. We both wanted to make an album that wasn't contained just within one sub genre of the music, which was free to go in a variety of different directions. We set out to explore the possibilities of the studio and technology and to take a few risks without compromising the musical integrity. Why not have a jazz standard next to a hip Hop or drum'n bass track? For us it was also important to document the live sound of the group and the kind of interplay that we've been working on the last few years. Its definitely a direction we want to pursue and explore further.
