Gwilym Simcock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gwilym Simcock (born 1981) is a British jazz pianist and composer. Simcock has been rated as one of the most exciting musicians of his generation in the UK.
Simcock had a formal musical education that included stints at the Trinity College of Music (London), Chetham's School of Music (Manchester) – where he studied classical piano, French horn and composition - and the Royal Academy of Music (London), where he graduated from the jazz course with first class honours and the coveted 'Principal's Prize' for outstanding achievement.
He is one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers working on British scene. Able to move effortlessly between jazz and classical music, he can, at times, inhabit both worlds and has been described as being stylistically reminiscent of Keith Jarrett, complete with "harmonic sophistication and subtle dovetailing of musical traditions" as well as being a pianist of "exceptional", "brilliant" and "dazzling" ability.
Simcock’s influences include jazz legends Jarrett, Chick Corea and John Taylor and much inspiration is taken from the classical world, especially the work of Ravel and Stravinsky as well as contemporary composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage who fuse together written and improvised music. Although principally a jazz artist, Simcock is breaking new ground between genres and often uses classical reference points in his composed work - he recently devised a solo piano project using the piano works of Shostakovich as a starting point and in 2005 premiered a piano concerto especially written for him by Tim Garland.
Aside from his renowned solo piano work, Simcock has worked extensively throughout Europe playing with other British and international jazz artists including Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Bobby Mcferrin, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks and Bob Mintzer among others. Simcock's own groups as a leader range from trio to big band to a 40-piece ensemble featuring a gospel choir and strings. His quintet features Stan Sulzmann (saxophones), John Parricelli (guitar), Phil Donkin (bass) and Martin France (drums). This band has been critically and widely acclaimed as ‘engaging, exciting, often unexpected, melodically enthralling, complex and wonderfully optimistic’.
A previous winner of the Perrier Award, BBC Jazz and British Jazz Rising Star Awards and participant in Take Five – the UK’s unique artist development initiative, Gwilym is currently the Parliamentary Jazz Awards "Musician of the year", and also a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist – the first jazz artist to be selected.
