JOHN WARREN
John Warren is a Canadian composer, arranger and saxophonist who has been working in Britain since the sixties. He gained a wide experience of playing in dance bands, theatre orchestras, pop bands, recording sessions, the Mike Westbrook Concert Band and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. His arranging skills have been developed across a range of jazz and popular music forms. These have included works for leading jazz groups, singers and big bands. He arranged sections of George Fenton’s scores for the films “White Mischief”, “Handful of Dust” and “Memphis Belle”. John also collaborated with Fenton on the musical arrangements for the West End production of “High Society”.
John Warren Band
For thirty years the band showcased his work, played by musicians of the stature of John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Mike Gibbs, Alan Skidmore, Julian Arguelles, Dave O’Higgins and Henry Lowther. The band performed regularly in London, toured Britain for the Contemporary Music Network, broadcast extensively on BBC Radio and was featured on BBC 2. Two tours of Germany and Switzerland included radio and TV appearances at WDR Cologne and NDR including a live concert recording in Bremen. John has been commissioned to compose several large-scale works for the band, including “Tales of the Algonquin”, a collaboration between the band and The Trio (Surman, Barre Phillips and Stu Martin), which was recorded in 1972 for Decca Records. This has now been released as on CD by Vocalion.
The Brass Project
In 1981, the multi-instrumentalist John Surman created The Brass Project to feature his trio and a brass ensemble, which Warren directed. Both men contributed compositions. Throughout the eighties and nineties the band performed throughout Britain and at major festivals throughout Europe – North Sea, Lisbon, Le Mans, Munich, and Orvieto. Some of the results of this collaboration can be heard on the CD recorded for ECM Records in 1992. In 1993 the London Jazz Festival commissioned a 60-minute suite from Warren, which was premiered at the festival and broadcast on Radio 3.
Other Jazz Compositions and Arrangements commissioned by:
Danish Radio Big Band
WDR Big Band, Cologne
BBC Big Band
Norma Winstone
Alan Skidmore Quintet
Durham Youth Jazz Orchestra
Georgie Fame & NDR Big Band, Hamburg
NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hanover
Karin Krog
John Surman Quartet & Oslo Radio Orchestra
Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra
The Dedication Orchestra
Steve Waterman Jazz Orchestra
Tim Garland’s Northern Underground Jazz OrchestraSince moving to York in 1990 John has been involved in several projects initiated by Jazz Action. These were to provide challenging musical opportunities for players in the Yorkshire and Northern Arts Region. The eight piece group gave concerts with Ken Wheeler and Andy Sheppard as guest artists. More recently John devised ‘Innovention’, an improvisation workshop for players from all musical backgrounds, performance levels and age groups. With tutors Graham Hardy and Lewis Watson, this enterprise has been proved a great success with aspiring musicians across the North.
Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra
Created in 1996 by Jazz Action, the Voice of the North was set-up to provide interesting and challenging music for players in the North East. John has been musical director since its inception and has provided the bulk of the band’s repertoire. The band has performed across the North, including concerts that featured the music of guests Andy Sheppard, Tommy Smith, Michael Garrick and Tim Garland. 2000 saw the premiere of “Chain Reaction” an hour-long work for John Surman and Voice of the North that was commissioned by the Hull Jazz Festival and has now been The band is currently preparing for concerts that will feature the playing and compositions of Steve Waterman, Alan Barnes and the American saxophonist and composer Bob Mintzer.
Northern Brass
In 2001 the Durham Brass Festival commissioned a work for jazz quintet (featuring Steve Waterman and Mark Nightingale) and seven brass band players. The suite “Mixing It”, was been performed at the festival in successive years. John has now added to the repertoire of the ensemble with a new suite entitled “Kicking the Traces” which was performed at the 2003 festival and at venues across the north. The music created for these two diverse musical forms and traditions has been released on a double CD by Jazz Action records.
Work in Education
Over the years John has been involved as a tutor on many jazz summer schools in Britain and Germany and has directed big band and small group workshops at the Guildhall School of Music, Leeds College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Royal Northern College of Music and the Trinity College of Music. From 1997 to 2002 John lectured on composition and arranging as part of the B.Mus degree course in Jazz, Popular and Commercial Music at Newcastle College. He has also contributed to the Associated Board’s “Jazz Works for Ensembles” series.
