Iain Ballamy

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Iain Ballamy
Born (1964-02-20) 20 February 1964 (age 61)
Guildford, Surrey, England
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentSaxophone
Years active1980s–present
LabelsBasho, Rune Grammofon, Editions EG, Feral, B&W Music
Website ballamy.com

Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. [1] He was featured as one of the world's all-time greats in BBC Music Magazine 's "100 Jazz Legends". [2] The Guardian described him as "one of the world's distinctive saxophone voices". [3] One of his closest musical collaborators is Django Bates. [1]

Contents

Career

Ballamy was born in Guildford, Surrey, [1] and educated at George Abbot School, Guildford, from 1975 to 1980. He then studied Musical Instrument Technology from 1980 to 1982 at Merton College. He took piano lessons from age of 6 to 14.

He discovered saxophone in 1978 with three lessons and his first professional gig was in 1980. He played Ronnie Scotts as Iain Ballamy Quartet at age 20. He was a founding member of Loose Tubes in 1984. [1] First recording with Billy Jenkins in 1985, his first solo album, Balloon Man , was released in 1988. [1] Clive Davis' review in The Times described it as "possibly the most assured session so far by any player of his generation" [4]

During his career he has performed or recorded with a wide range of musicians including Gil Evans, Hermeto Pascoal, New York Composers Orchestra, Carla Bley, Dewey Redman, George Coleman, London Sinfonietta, Françios Jeanneau, Daniel Humair, Mike Gibbs, Randy Weston, Karnataka College of Percussion, Sax Assault, Jazz Train, Freebop, Nishat Khan, R.A.Ramamani, T.A.S. Mani, Clare Martin, Human Chain, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Tom Robinson, Charlie Watts Orchestra, Jeremy Stacey, Randy Weston, Joanna MacGregor, Delightful Precipice, Bill Bruford, Django Bates, Mark Wingfield, Jane Chapman, Bryan Ferry, Everything But The Girl, Food, Food for Quartet, Loose Tubes, Oxcentrics, Ian Shaw, Slim Gaillard, Ultramarine (band), Ashley Slater, Hungry Ants, Ronnie Scott, Gordon Beck, Britten Sinfonia, and Gay Dad.

In 1999, Ballamy founded the record label Feral Records, in partnership with graphic artist and filmmaker Dave McKean. In 2005, he composed the musical score for the movie MirrorMask . He also composed the score for Luna, which is also directed by McKean.

Ballamy is a visiting professor currently at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. [5]

His latest musical endeavours include the Iain Ballamy Quartet, as well as 'Fascinada', a quintet playing the music of Brazil. The group plays textural improvisations that lead into compositions by the likes of Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, Antonio Carlos Jobim & Hermeto Pascoal. The group features Welsh pianist Huw Warren and guitarist Rob Luft.

Discography

As leader

As co-leader

With Food (Ballamy & Thomas Strønen)
With Quercus (trio including June Tabor and Huw Warren)

As sideman

With Loose Tubes

With Billy Jenkins

With Bill Bruford's Earthworks

With Django Bates

With Ian Shaw

With Ray Russell

With others

Commissions

Awards

Group history

British Council tours

Romania 1985, Morocco 1995, China 1997, Senegal 1997, India 1996 and 1998, Lithuania 1998, and Colombia 1998.

Television

Jazz 606, Meltdown, The Tube, Bergerac, Illuminations, Stay Lucky, Right to Reply, Wogan, and Ronnie Corbett Show.

Radio

Film sessions

Dance

2003 – 2004 Dance Ranjabiati Sircar/SAMPAD, SANKALPAM

Theatre

Out There, Riverside Studios

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 29. ISBN   0-85112-580-8.
  2. ↑ "100 Jazz Legends". BBC Music Magazine. December 2011.
  3. ↑ Fordham, John (28 December 1999). "The good sax guide". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Times" [Balancing Act]. The Times . 1989.
  5. ↑ "Biography". Ballamy.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  6. ↑ "Iain Ballamy | Album Discography". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  7. ↑ londonjazz (1 May 2020). "Iain Ballamy, Ian Shaw, Jamie Safir – "What's New?"". London Jazz News. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

Interviews

Reviews

Articles

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