‘Playing of blazing commitment.’ LONDON JAZZ

As part of the Jamaica 2012 Lively Up! festival celebrating 50 years of Jamaican independence, the 11-piece Nu Civilisation Orchestra (whose members include Gary Crosby, Nathaniel Facey and Byron Wallen) presents a sizzling tribute to jazz genius Joe Harriott, the incomparable alto saxophonist and composer who revolutionised British jazz. Born in Kingston in 1928, Harriott – who died in Southampton in 1973 – developed his own, independent interpretation of freely improvised music, infused with the bop and blues inspirations of his hero Charlie Parker and the vivid colours of the Caribbean.

Joe Harriott
An iconic figure in the evolution of jazz in Britain, Joe Harriott arrived in London in the early ’50s. At first known as a blistering bop saxophonist who fused the legacy of Charlie Parker with his Caribbean roots, his restlessly inventive spirit led to a ground-breaking concept of free jazz on this side of the pond that emerged independently from the Stateside experiments of Ornette Coleman.

Harriott was as influenced by Pablo Picasso as by Charlie Parker. He said ‘Most of this music is best listened to as a series of different pictures – for it is after all, by definition an attempt in free improvisation to paint, as it were, freely in sound.’

Bristol Reggae Orchestra
Bristol Reggae Orchestra is one of the UK’s most unique, inspiring and uplifting community projects. Set up in early 2010, its debut sold out St George’s in Bristol, a renowned classical music venue, and turned it into a seething dance hall. Since then, performances at local festivals, in the St Paul’s community and around the southwest have confirmed the Reggae Orchestra as one to watch.
 
Where:  St George's Hall 

Great George Street
off Park Street
Bristol
BS1 5RR