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Jay Phelps

Trumpeter and Artist, Jay Phelps is a Vancouver-born Canadian with an instantly recognisable warm and projecting tone.

He was tutored by the city’s top Jazz and Classical trumpeters and distinguished himself early on as the youngest band-leader in the Vancouver International Jazz Festival’s history. In 1999 aged 17, Jay moved to London, determined to immerse himself in the jazz scene and immediately attracted the notice of Gary Crosby (Dune records), who offered him work with Jazz Jamaica in 2002 and the opportunity to be a 'Tomorrow’s Warrior'.

Citing Louis Armstrong, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown and Miles Davis as his early influences, Jay went on to create and co-lead the UK Jazz sensation Empirical. They spent two years touring major festivals and events with their self titled debut album, while garnering worldwide media attention that UK Jazz musicians hadn't enjoyed for years. Jay has performed and recorded with a veritable who’s who of international Jazz and famed artists such as; Courtney Pine, Andrew Hill, Wynton Marsalis, Ray Brown, John Hendricks, Nasheet Waits, George Benson, Jamie Cullum, Sir John Dankworth, Jean Toussaint, Dennis Rollins, Guy Barker, Amy Winehouse, Charlotte Church, Hugh Masakela, Jazz Jamaica, Soweto Kinch, Skatroniks, Ska Cubano, Chineke Orchestra.

In 2012, Jay guested with Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Linclon Centre Orchestra for Marsalis’ epic, 'Congo Square', taking the chair of the master himself as he conducted the band. Later that summer he proceeded to have two sell out nights featuring the Jay Phelps Big Band at the world renowned Ronnie Scott’s jazz venue in London. Jay expanded his wings into TV where he featured in the band on BBC’s Dancing on The Edge, written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff.

After a successful year of hosting the Late Show at Ronnie Scott's with various bands, Jay moved his night to the Hippodrome Casino, Leicester Square, where he continued with his signature style. As well as being a late night host and performer of London's top music venues, Phelps regularly tours nationally and internationally with his own bands (JPQ, Projections:Of Miles, Jay's Jitter Jive).

Recently, when not on the road with his own groups, Jay has been touring with two of Brazil's great musical exports, Ed Motta and Banda Black Rio and Afrobeat Master Orlando Julius, American Soul singer Liv Warfield. Also with renowned director Peter Brook's play 'The Suit'. Jay has also joined forces with producer and Trombonist Courtney Brown to form a new project called 'NBOC', a group pushing the boundaries of hip-hop and modern creative music, due to start releasing from 2016.

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7
Album Review

Alina Bzhezhinska & HipHarpCollective: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Chris May


In an inspired piece of programming, London's Barbican Centre presented the then virtually unknown harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her quartet as one of the support bands on its November 18, 2017 one-nighter A Concert for Alice and John, a show headlined by Pharoah Sanders. It would be an exaggeration to say Bzhezhinska stole the show (see “Pharoah Sanders" above), but she was sensational, offering up fresh readings of Alice Coltrane tunes and a few originals, accompanied by Tony Kofi on ...

8
Album Review

Xhosa Cole: K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us

Read "K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us" reviewed by Chris May


When tenor saxophonist Xhosa Cole won the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year prize in 2018, Britain was introduced to a young player with formidable technique and a solid grasp of the post-John Coltrane African American tradition. Cole was then little known outside Birmingham, his hometown in England's Midlands, and he had developed independently of London's alternative jazz scene. His classic as opposed to radical aesthetic brought a refreshing vibe. So too did that of saxophonist Alex Clarke, a ...

2
Live Review

Jay Phelps at the Harrow Arts Centre

Read "Jay Phelps at the Harrow Arts Centre" reviewed by Barry Witherden


Jay Phelps Harrow Arts Centre Hatch End, London July 7, 2017 Harrovians don't know what they're missing. The Harrow Arts Centre, tucked away in Hatch End off the teeming Uxbridge Road in London's north-western suburb, has an adventurous booking policy--most such enterprises seem unwilling to recognise any jazz other than trad or dinner-jazz--but whenever I have been there the audience has never exceeded 50. In an area that includes a large South ...

164
Live Review

Jay Phelps Big Band: Snape, UK, August 17, 2011

Read "Jay Phelps Big Band: Snape, UK, August 17, 2011" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Jay Phelps Big BandSnape MaltingsSnape, UKAugust 17, 2011 Trumpeter Jay Phelps, a native of Vancouver who moved to the UK in his teens, first came to the attention of the British jazz scene as a member of Tomorrow's Warriors. In his early 20s he co-founded Empirical, playing on that band's debut album Empirical (Destin-E Records, 2007) before leaving in 2008. He released his own first album, the bop-inspired Jay Walkin' (Specific Jazz) in 2010. A ...

357
Album Review

Jay Phelps: Jay Walkin'

Read "Jay Walkin'" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Canadian-born trumpeter Jay Phelps moved to the UK at the age of 17. Since his arrival Phelps has gathered much valuable experience with acts such as Dennis Rollins (who guests on Jay Walkin''s “10 Years"), Tomorrow's Warriors and the award-winning Empirical, before embarking on this debut recording as leader at the age of 28. It's paid off, for Jay Walkin' is confident, stylish and charming. Phelps has a great love of the jazz tradition and an enthusiasm ...

649
Interview

Jay Phelps: Swing Is The New Avant-Garde

Read "Jay Phelps: Swing Is The New Avant-Garde" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


At the age of 28, trumpeter Jay Phelps already has a broad range of musical experiences under his belt, including co-founding the award-winning jazz group Empirical. Releasing his debut album as a leader, Jay Walkin' (Specific Records, 2010), seems like a natural next step. But Phelps is clearly not a man to be rushed. The album title is not just a pun; it also reflects Phelps' considered and studious approach to his own personal musical development. He's a bright, engaging ...

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93

Interview

Trumpeter Jay Phelps Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!

Trumpeter Jay Phelps Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!

Source: John Kelman

At the age of 28, trumpeter Jay Phelps already has a broad range of musical experiences under his belt, including co-founding the award-winning jazz group Empirical. Releasing his debut album as a leader, Jay Walkin' (Specific Records, 2010), seems like a natural next step. But Phelps is clearly not a man to be rushed. The album title is not just a pun; it also reflects Phelps' considered and studious approach to his own personal musical development. He's a bright, engaging ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Reflections

BBE Records
2022

buy

K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us

Stoney Lane Records
2021

buy

Perihelion

audioguido records
2021

buy

Jay Walkin'

Specific Jazz
2010

buy

Six Degrees of Separation

From: Jay Walkin'
By Jay Phelps

Videos

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