Category Archive

Saxophonist and composer Mark Lockheart first came to prominence in the mid 1980s with the influential big band Loose Tubes. In 1992 Mark formed the eclectic co-led quartet Perfect Houseplants, a group that released six albums and collaborated with classical artists such as the Orlando Consort, Andrew Manze and Pamela Thorby. The mid-90s saw Mark recording and performing with many jazz, …

Emilia Mårtensson is an award-winning London-based vocalist originally from Sweden. Her gently expressive voice and highly personal compositions are firmly rooted within the folklore and countryside of her native southern Sweden, You can hear her Swedish heritage clearly, carved like an ancient rune, in the haunting and ethereal tones of her voice, in the dark melancholy of her storytelling and …

Zsófia Boros’ guitar playing is subtle and restrained, accompanied by a melancholy grace. As the subtleness of her playing unfolds, the attentive listener perceives its quiet virtuosity. Her restraint arises quite naturally from the knowledge of her own ability to become one with her instrument and, thus, never to let virtuosity dominate the music. Zsófia Boros’ melancholy is sweet, bitter-sweet; her performance sharpens …

Throughout an international career starting in the late 1980’s, Tim Garland has become known as a unique polymath in the UK’s music scene. His first break as saxophonist was joining Ronnie Scotts band age 23. Later he was to join Chick Corea as a regular member of several globe-trotting projects over a seventeen year period including The Vigil. Playing tenor …

Frank Harrison took up the piano at 11, and began playing gigs when he was 15. After taking up a scholarship at Berklee School Of Music, Boston, he returned to the UK and joined Gilad Atzmon’s Orient House Ensemble. The band regularly tours Europe, playing at major Jazz and World music festivals. Frank has also performed with Tim Garland, Peter …

Gwilym Simcock has carved out a career as one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the European scene.  He moves effortlessly between jazz and classical music, with a ‘harmonic sophistication and subtle dovetailing of musical traditions’. Gwilym has been hailed as a pianist of ‘exceptional’, ‘brilliant’ and ‘dazzling’ ability, and his music has been widely acclaimed as ‘engaging, …

Born in Israel, Asaf started his professional career as a drummer in the late 80’s and played with some of Israel’s Jazz luminaries such at Harold Rubin and Alber Beger. A few years after the recording of his first solo album ‘One Step Closer’ Asaf relocated to the Netherlands, France and finally settled in London around 1999 where he soon …

Mike Walker was influenced by his father’s piano playing, his mother’s singing, and his brother’s guitar playing. He joined the jazz fusion band River People with Paul Allen, Tim Franks, and Paul Kilvington in Manchester. In the 1980s, he became a member of a quartet led by vibraphonist Alan Butler and worked with Michael Gibbs and Kenny Wheeler. He worked with Nikki and Richard Iles, then the Sylvan …

Paul Allen, our sound engineer is the overlooked artist behind the great sound of Ambleside Days. Working alongside Pete Major who tunes the pianos and does the runaround They can’t be thanked enough for their continued enthusiasm and support.

Whilst studying classical Double Bass at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Steve discovered jazz and left immediately. Since then he’s worked with Mark Copland, Julian Arguelles, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Gordon Beck, Phil Woods, Bobby Wellins, Kirk Lightsey and many others. Steve is currently Professor of Bass at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and …