Projects
The Tony Woods Project
The Avalon Trio
The Tony Woods Quartet
Other Projects
The Tony Woods Project The Project recorded it’s first album (‘High Seas’) in 1997,which was well received by audiences and critics alike (see reviews). It toured in 1998 and 2000 with the support of Jazz Services, and has performed at numerous jazz festivals including Swanage, Manchester, Croydon, Ascot and London venues including the Vortex, the Crypt, the 606 Club, and Lauderdale House (see reviews) The Project’s second album ‘Lowlands’ was released on the Basho Music label and the latest one ‘Wind Shadows’ is released on the 33 Records label. The album feature melodic, folk inspired, quirky and uplifting compositions from Tony and exciting solos from the whole band. One feature of the music is the way collective improvisations (reminiscent of early forms of jazz where the instrumentalists weaved their lines around each other) are incorporated into bigger structures. The band features Mike Outram on guitar and Milo Fell on drums, and long time associates Robert Millett on vibes and Andy Hamill on bass, all of whom play with wonderful group empathy and respect for each other and the music.
Band Biographies
Andy Hamill: double bass. Since moving to London from Scotland in 1993 Andy has worked with jazz singers Mark Murphy, Annie Ross, and Salena Jones, and has many recording credits to his name, including ‘Two Pages’, and ‘Creating Patterns’ with 4 Hero, ‘Beyond Skin’ with Nitin Sawhnie, ‘June Babies’ with Rebecca Hollweg, ‘Live at Ronnie Scott’s’ and ‘Heart of the Sun’ with Theo Travis…
Mike Outram: guitar. One of the UK’s foremost guitarists. Mike has worked with Herbie Mann, Dave O’Higgins, Cinematic Orchestra, Martin Speake, Nikki Iles, Stan Sulzmann, Photek, Asaf Sirkis, Gwyneth Herbert and has played with guitarists Martin Taylor, Jim Mullen and John Etheridge. He has toured internationally, recorded over 30 cds for Universal, Sony, Candid records and others and won the ‘Best Group in Europe’ award with Grooveyard in Spain. Recently activities include; a European tour with soul-funk legend Carleen Anderson, performances with Rolling Stones saxophonist Tim Ries and Sebastiaan Cornelissen’s quartet, recordings with jazz folk songstress Gwyneth Herbert and Asaf Sirkis’ group and playing classical guitar at the Sao Paulo Film Festival, Brazil, for composer Laura Rossi. Mike is also Guitar Professor at Trinity College of Music, The Royal Academy of Music, Middlesex University, Thames Valley University, Guitar-X, The Royal Welsh college of Music and Drama and has also taught for the Glamorgan and Wavendon summer schools, ‘Live Music Now’, The Purcell School, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has given numerous workshops and clinics internationally. Website – www.mikeoutram.com
Robert Millett: vibraphone. Robert trained at the Royal College of Music as an orchestral percussionist. He has worked in many different settings including Ballet Rambert, English National Touring Opera, Tim Whitehead’s Homemade Orchestra, contemporary music group Icebreaker, The London Philharmonic Orchestra and others. Recent solo work includes a recital in Cambridge and performances at the Isleworth Festival. Robert has undertaken education and community projects for several organisations, and has written the music for several dance pieces created by Rambert’s education team. He teaches percussion and music technology at the Lady Eleanor Holles school in Hampton
Milo Fell: drums. Milo was born in London in 1970. In 1989 he moved to Manchester where he played and recorded with John Ellis, John Thorne, Rare Birds, Gharham Clarke and various jazz, fusion, funk and latin groups. He also played with visiting soloists including Tim Whitehead who invited him to record a CD (Personal Standards) and play at Ronnie Scott’s. He moved back to London in 1999 and since then has played with The Cinematic Orchestra, prize-winning Amsterdam-based band Dalgoo which toured Russia in autumn 2002 and ‘Tides’ with Colin Riley and Tim Whitehead.
The Avalon Trio An improvising trio which takes its inspiration from English classical music of the twentieth century. We have found that the short song forms of composers such as Delius and Finzi lend themselves particularly well to improvisation, just as the ’standards’ of the American song book have been used as vehicles for improvisation by jazz musicians since the1930’s.
Pete Churchill: piano. Pete has worked as a pianist and singer with many of the leading jazz names in the UK and abroad, including the ‘Kenny Wheeler Vocal Project’ with the wonderful Norma Winstone. His work with Kenny both as a singer and arranger has led in recent years to high profile appearances at the Berlin jazz festival and the ‘Summer Jazz’ festival in Finland. Pete is also one of this country’s foremost Jazz educators and has been a Professor of Jazz studies at the Guildhall since 1988 where his harmony classes have become legendary. He also directs and writes for the Guildhall vocal ensemble. He has recently joined the faculty at the Royal Academy of Music to teach jazz composition and is also currently a Senior Lecturer in Jazz Studies at Middlesex University.
Robert Millett: percussion – see above The Tony Woods Quartet Tony formed the quartet to explore playing the standard jazz repertoire in a contemporary yet melodic and lyrical way, with a focus on interplay and motivic development.
Tristan Maillot : drums. French born drummer Tristan studied at Dartington College of Music and The Royal Academy of Music. He has appeared with leading UK and international artists, including; Art Farmer, Jim Hall, Bobby Shew, Scott Hamilton, Peter King, Stan Tracey, Dave Newton, Alan Barnes, Gerard Presencer and Jim Mullen. He has many recording credits to his name including albums by Tina May and Gareth Williams.
Mike Outram: guitar – see above
Andy Hamill: double bass – see above
The Runaway Wedding Band- Bulgarian Wedding music and Bebop ! mad musical fun.
Other Projects * Anamcara – Vocal trio performing Georgian folk songs with saxophone improvisations. * Tim Whitehead Sextet – With Ian East, Liam Noble, Milo Fell, Sam Burgess. * Playback – Improvised theatre group. * Blue of a Kind – A tribute to ‘Kind of Blue’. * Other recent performances – A premiere of Frank Griffith’s ‘Nine Tales for Nonet’ at the Interfaces Symposium at Brunel University, with Henry Lowther, Steve Waterman, Alex Mcguire. A performance of Rod Paton’s Jazz Mass for choir, organ and jazz ensemble at the Turner Simms concert hall in Southampton. Gigs with Gail Thompson’s Jazz Africa on her CMN tour. Perormed at Cleethorpes Jazz Festival with Michael Garrick’s Big Band 2006.
