Gerard Presencer | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Watford, Hertfordshire, England | 12 September 1972
Genres | Jazz, contemporary classical |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument | Trumpet |
Years active | 1987–present |
Gerard Presencer (born 12 September 1972) is an English jazz trumpeter.
Presencer showed his first interest in what was to become his chosen instrument, the trumpet, at the age of nine. He attributes his early determination to become a trumpeter to hearing Roy Eldridge's solo from a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert. He has cited Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Wheeler, Woody Shaw, and Clifford Brown as early influences. [1]
When Presencer was 11 years old, he became the youngest trumpeter with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. At the age of 18, he began playing with pianist Stan Tracey, in his big band, octet, septet, and in duo, playing a live concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, later released on Blue Note Records.
Presencer worked with British musicians Peter King, John Dankworth, John Taylor, Ronnie Scott, Norma Winstone, and Mike Gibbs, as well as with international musicians, including Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Randy Brecker, Red Rodney, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John Abercrombie, and Bob Berg. [2] Pesencer is a member of Charlie Watts' various jazz groups, with which he has recorded five albums, and was a featured soloist on US3's Cantaloop , Blue Note's biggest-selling album of the 1990s. [3] He has also released albums as a band leader.
In January 2010, Presencer was as a soloist with the Danish Radio Big Band for the opening of the Danish National Concert Hall. Later the same year, he became a regular member of the big band and moved to Copenhagen. [4]
Presencer has collaborated frequently with contemporary classical music composer Siobhan Lamb as an improvising soloist. Two albums were released in 2012 by the Naxos label Proprius: Meditations and The Nightingale and the Rose.
As a session musician, Presencer has recorded with Sting, Jamiroquai, Zero 7, James Brown, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, and Jonny Greenwood. [2]
Presencer is the featured soloist on the 2011 BAFTA Award-winning score for the computer game L.A. Noire , which features Mark Turner, John Taylor, David Freidman, Jeff Ballard, and Larry Grenadier.
Presencer was the Head of the Jazz Department at the Royal Academy of Music from 1999 until 2010 and was Head of the Brass Department at The Jazz Institute, Berlin, from 1999 to 2016. He has given workshops in European jazz conservatories (including Amsterdam, Helsinki and Copenhagen).
In 2015, his book about the technical requirements of trumpet playing in improvised music was released by Warwick Music.
With Stan Tracey
With Charlie Watts
With others
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Martin Taylor, MBE is a British jazz guitarist who has performed solo, in groups, guitar ensembles, and as an accompanist.
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE, also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he was a music educator and also her music director.
Tom Harrell is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by Jazz Journalists Association, Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including multiple Trumpeter of the Year awards from DownBeat magazine, SESAC Jazz Award, BMI Composers Award, and Prix Oscar du Jazz. He received a Grammy Award nomination for his big band album, Time's Mirror.
Thomas William Ellis Smith is a Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Allan Anthony Ganley was an English jazz drummer and arranger.
"Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" is a song by British jazz-rap group Us3, originally released in October 1992 by Blue Note Records as the lead single from the group's debut album, Hand On the Torch (1993). The song was recorded as a demo a year before the group's first release and features a sample of Herbie Hancock's song "Cantaloupe Island". Another sample, the announcement by Pee Wee Marquette, is taken from the Blue Note album A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1 by The Art Blakey Quintet. "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" did not chart in the group's native UK, but in the US, it reached No. 9 and 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, becoming the group's only top 40 single. It was subsequently re-released in UK where it peaked at No. 23. The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 25, 1994 for selling over 500,000 copies.
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959.
Peter John King was an English jazz saxophonist, composer, and clarinettist.
Gary Valente is a jazz trombonist.
Mark Daryl Nightingale is an English jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger.
Clark Tracey is a British jazz drummer, band leader, and composer.
Thomas Henry Lowther is an English jazz trumpeter who also plays violin.
Nigel Hitchcock is an English jazz saxophonist.
The Danish Radio Big Band, often referred to as the Radioens Big Band is a radio ensemble and big band founded in Copenhagen in 1964 at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).
Frank Holder was a Guyanese jazz singer and percussionist. He was a member of bands led by Jiver Hutchinson, Johnny Dankworth and Joe Harriott.
Derek Roy Watkins was an English jazz, pop, and classical trumpeter. Best known for his lead trumpet work on the soundtracks of James Bond films, Watkins recorded with British jazz bandleaders as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and The Beatles. Dizzy Gillespie called him "Mr. Lead".
Derek Nash is a British jazz saxophonist, band leader, arranger and recording engineer.
Vincent Nilsson is a Swedish jazz trombonist and arranger.
Anthony Kerr is a British jazz vibraphone player, who has performed and recorded internationally with Georgie Fame, Charlie Watts, BBC Big Band, Robbie Williams, Joe Lovano, Jacqui Dankworth, and Courtney Pine. His compositions have been broadcast on BBC Radio.