Django Bates

{{Short description|British composer, musician, band leader and educator (born 1960)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Django Bates

| image = Django_Bates.jpg

| birth_name = Leon Bates

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|10|2|df=y}}

| birth_place = Beckenham, Kent, England

| genre = Jazz, jazz fusion

| occupation = Musician, composer, educator

| instrument = Piano, keyboards, tenor horn

| years_active = 1980s–present

| label = EG, ECM, Lost Marble, Screwgun, JMT

| website = {{URL|www.djangobates.co.uk}}

}}

Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960){{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=189/190}} is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musicians Britain has produced... his work covers the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz through to bebop and free jazz to jazz-rock fusion."{{cite book|last=Vande Kappelle|first=Robert P.|title=Blue Notes: Profiles of Jazz Personalities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwJNAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA319|date=7 April 2011|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-61097-283-3|page=319}}

In addition to his jazz work, he is also a classical composer (writing both large- and small-scale compositions on commission), theatre composer, and has taught as a professor at various European music schools. As a leader, his bands have included Human Chain, Delightful Precipice, Quiet Nights, Powder Room Collapse Orchestra and Belovèd, and he was also a leading figure in Loose Tubes and Bill Bruford's Earthworks.

Early life

Bates was born in Beckenham, Kent, England, and attended Sedgehill School. While at this school, he also attended the Centre for Young Musicians in London (1971–77), where he learned trumpet, piano, and violin. In 1977–78, he studied at Morley College. In 1978, he enrolled at the Royal College of Music to study composition but left after two weeks.

As jazz musician

Bates founded Human Chain in 1979 and, in the 1980s, he rose to prominence in a jazz orchestra called Loose Tubes. In 1991, he started the 19-piece jazz orchestra Delightful Precipice.{{cite web|last1=Thackray|first1=Rachelle| title=Delightful Precipice|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/apr/02/artsfeatures1|website=The Guardian|access-date=5 November 2017|date=1 April 2001}} He also assembled the Powder Room Collapse Orchestra (which recorded Music for The Third Policeman){{cite book|last1=Carr|first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Carr|last2=Fairweather|first2=Digby|author2-link=Digby Fairweather| last3=Priestley|first3=Brian|author3-link=Brian Priestley|title=The Rough Guide to Jazz|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetojazz00carr|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-84353-256-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetojazz00carr/page/79 79]–}} and created Circus Umbilicus, a musical circus show.{{cite web|last1=Price|first1=Neil|title=Django Bates celebrates Bird's birthday|url=http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/features/jazzwise-magazine-features/144-daily-breaking-news/breaking-news/2299-django-bates|website=Jazzwise|access-date=5 November 2017|date=16 January 2008}} Bates has appeared as a sideman or member of Dudu Pukwana's Zila,{{cite book|last=Chilton|first=John|title=Who's Who of British Jazz: 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1fUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|date=21 June 2004| publisher= Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-0-8264-7234-2|page=7}} Tim Whitehead's Borderline,{{cite web|url=http://www.timwhitehead.co.uk/biog.aspx|title=TIM WHITEHEAD|website=Timwhitehead.co.uk|access-date=23 November 2017}} Ken Stubbs's First House,{{cite web|title=First House| url=https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue/143038751155/erendira-first-house-ken-stubbs-django-bates-mick-hutton-martin-france|website=ECM Records|access-date=5 November 2017}} Bill Bruford's Earthworks,{{cite web|last1=Kelman|first1=John|title=Bill Bruford's Earthworks: Earthworks & Dig?| url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bill-brufords-earthworks-earthworks-and-dig-by-john-kelman.php|website=All About Jazz| access-date=5 November 2017|date=23 April 2005}} Sidsel Endresen, and in the bands of George Russell and George Gruntz. He has performed with Michael Brecker, Tim Berne, Christian Jarvi, Vince Mendoza, David Sanborn, Kate Rusby, and Don Alias.

As composer

File:django-bates.jpg

Bates has concentrated on writing large-scale compositions on commission. These include:

"Dream Kitchen" for percussionist Evelyn Glennie{{cite web|last1=Church|first1=Michael|title=Home on the Range|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/home-on-the-range-1307422.html|website=The Independent| access-date=5 November 2017|date=29 April 1996}}
"Fine Frenzy" for the Shobhana Jeyasingh Dance Company{{cite book| last1=Craine| first1=Debra|last2=Mackrell|first2=Judith|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42g8Hp-xA48C&pg=PA240|date=19 August 2010|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-956344-9|page=240}}
"What It's Like to be Alive", a piano concerto for Joanna MacGregor and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra{{cite web|last1=Church|first1=Michael|title=The Return of Django|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-return-of-django-1360639.html|website=The Independent|access-date=5 November 2017|date=28 October 1996}}
"2000 Years Beyond UNDO", a concerto for electric keyboard that was performed at the millennium Barbican Festival

Bates worked closely with director Lucy Bailey on several theatre projects, including Gobbledegook for the Gogmagogs, Baby Doll, (Birmingham Rep, National Theatre, Albery Theatre), Stairs to the Roof (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Postman Always Rings Twice (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Albery Theatre) and Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare's Globe). They also worked on a short film You Can Run. Other theatre work includes Gregory Doran's production of As You Like It (RSC), and Campbell Graham's Out There!.

Bates was the inaugural artistic director of the music festival FuseLeeds in 2004. He used this opportunity to initiate the first orchestral commission for Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. Bates also commissioned sixty composers including Laurie Anderson, Gavin Bryars, Patrick Moore, and John Zorn, to write one bar each. He then quilted these bars into the piece "Premature Celebration", which was performed by Evan Parker and the London Sinfonietta to celebrate Parker's 60th birthday.

Teaching

In 2002, Bates was a tutor at the Banff Centre jazz programme alongside Jim Black and Dave Douglas.{{cite web|title=History of Jazz at Banff Centre|url=https://www.banffcentre.ca/history-jazz-banff-centre|website=Banffcentre.ca|access-date=5 November 2017}} In July 2005, Bates was appointed Professor of Rhythmic Music at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) in Copenhagen, Denmark.{{cite web|last1=May|first1=Chris| title=Django Bates: Spring Is Here (A Long Time Coming But Worth The Wait)|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/django-bates-spring-is-here-a-long-time-coming-but-worth-the-wait-django-bates-by-chris-may.php?width=1920|website=All About Jazz|access-date=5 November 2017|date=14 July 2008}} He was appointed visiting professor of jazz at the Royal Academy of Music in London in September 2010.{{cite web|title=New Appointments|url=http://www.ram.ac.uk/find-people?pid=611|publisher=Royal Academy of Music|access-date=2 October 2010}} In September 2011, he was appointed Professor of Jazz at HKB Bern, Switzerland.{{cite web|url=http://www.britishcomposerawards.com/composer_profiles.php?idc=894&y=2014&u=12&idz=861&w=0|title=British Composer Awards biography|website=Britishcomposerawards.com|access-date=23 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916182557/http://www.britishcomposerawards.com/composer_profiles.php?idc=894&y=2014&u=12&idz=861&w=0|archive-date=16 September 2017|url-status=dead}}

Awards and honours

The Wire voted Bates Best UK Jazz Composer in 1987 and 1990.

The Jazzpar Prize, 1997
The Ivors Jazz Award, 2019{{Cite web|url=https://ivorsacademy.com/news/nominee_cat/the-ivors-jazz-award/|title = The Ivors Jazz Award Archives| date=23 May 2019 }}

In 2008, he was nominated for the PRS New Music Award.{{cite web | url=https://www.jazzwise.com/news/article/django-bates-nominated-for-new-music-award | title=Django Bates Nominated for New Music Award|website=Jazzwise |date=31 January 2008}}

He was awarded a fellowship by the Leeds College of Music in 1995.{{cite web | url=https://www.jazzwise.com/other/article/academic-honours-for-django-and-dave | title=Academic honours for Django and Dave |website=Jazzwise|date=4 November 2005}}

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

=As leader/co-leader=

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year recorded

!Title

!Label

!Personnel/Notes

1986

|Human Chain

|With Steve Argüelles (drums, percussion)

1987

|Cashin' In

|EG

|As Human Chain; most tracks trio, with Steve Argüelles (drums), Stuart Hall (strings, piccolo); one track quartet, with Steve Buckley (penny whistle) added

1990

|Music for The Third Policeman

|Ah Um

|With Steve Buckley (tin whistle, alto sax, clarinet, bicycle bell), Steve Berry (cello, double bass), Martin France (drums, percussion), Stuart Hall (banjo, violin, guitar, mandolin), Sarah Harrison (violin, hooter), Robert Juritz (bassoon), Dai Pritchard (clarinet, bass clarinet); Eddie Parker (bass flute), Dave Pattman (bongos), Ashley Slater (bass trombone) are added on one or two tracks each. Live performance from 2000 on YouTube:{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_fMyudatzE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211217/a_fMyudatzE |archive-date=2021-12-17 |url-status=live|title=OCTLL. DJANGO BATES. The Third Policeman|date=8 January 2020 |access-date=24 July 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

1993

|Summer Fruits (and Unrest)

|JMT

|With Eddie Parker (flute, bass flute), Sarah Homer (clarinet, bass clarinet), Iain Ballamy and Steve Buckley (soprano sax, alto sax), Mark Lockheart and Barak Schmool (tenor sax), Julian Argüelles (baritone sax), Sid Gauld (high trumpet), Chris Batchelor (soloing trumpet), David Laurence (French horn), Roland Bates (trombone), Richard Henry (bass trombone), Sarah Waterhouse (tuba), Steve Watts (acoustic bass), Mike Mondesir (electric bass), Stuart Hall (electric guitar, violin, lap steel, banjo), Martin France (drums), Thebe Lipare (percussion)

1994

|Autumn Fires (and Green Shoots)

|JMT

|Solo piano

1995

|Winter Truce (and Homes Blaze)

|JMT

|With Eddie Parker (flute, bass flute), Iain Ballamy (soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax), Steve Buckley (soprano sax, alto sax, tin whistle), Mark Lockheart (tenor sax, clarinet), Barak Schmool (tenor sax, piccolo), Julian Argüelles (soprano sax, baritone sax), Sid Gauld and Chris Batchelor (trumpet), David Laurence (French horn), Roland Bates (trombone), Richard Henry (bass trombone), Sarah Waterhouse (tuba), Mike Mondesir (electric bass), Stuart Hall (guitar, violin, banjo), Martin France (drums, percussion), Christine Tobin (vocals)

1995*

|Good Evening...Here Is the News

|Decca/Argo

1997

|Like Life

|Storyville

|With the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra and others

1998

|Quiet Nights

|Screwgun

|With Iain Ballamy (sax, harmonica), Josefine Cronholm (vocals, Tibetan bells), Mike Mondesir (bass), Martin France (drums, percussion)

2003

|You Live and Learn...(Apparently)

|Lost Marble

|With Iain Ballamy (tenor sax), Chris Batchelor (trumpet), Josefine Lindstrand (bells, vocals), Deirdre Cooper (cello), Nic Pendlebury (viola), Charles Mutter and Ian Humphries (violin), Mike Mondesir (bass, vocals), Martin France (drums, percussion); David Sanborn (alto sax), Jim Mullen (guitar), Laurence Cottle (bass), Barak Schmool (percussion) added on one track each

2008*

|Spring Is Here (Shall We Dance?)

|Lost Marble

|With 19-piece band

2008–09

|Beloved Bird

|Lost Marble

|Trio, with Petter Eldh (bass), Peter Bruun (drums)

2011

|Confirmation

|Lost Marble

|Most tracks trio, with Petter Eldh (bass), Peter Bruun (drums); some tracks quartet, with Ashley Slater (vocals) added

2016

|The Study of Touch

|ECM

|Trio, with Petter Eldh (bass), Peter Bruun (drums)

2017

|Saluting Sgt. Pepper

|Edition

|With the Frankfurt Radio Big Band

2020

|Tenacity

|Lost Marble

|Trio, with Petter Eldh (bass), Peter Bruun (drums)

=As sideman=

With Loose Tubes

Loose Tubes (1985)
Delightful Precipice (1986)
Open Letter (1988)
Dancing on Frith Street (recorded live 1990) (2010)
Säd Afrika (recorded live 1990) (2012)

With Billy Jenkins

Greenwich (1985)
Uncommerciality Vol 1 (1986)
Scratches of Spain (1987)

With First House

Eréndira (1985)
Cantilena (1989)

With Bill Bruford's Earthworks

Earthworks (1987)
Dig? (1989)
All Heaven Broke Loose (1991)
Stamping Ground (1994)
Heavenly Bodies (1997)

With Iain Ballamy

Balloon Man (1989)
All Men Amen (1995)

With Tim Berne's Caos Totale

Nice View (JMT, 1994)

With Anouar Brahem

Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)

With Sidsel Endresen

So I Write (1990)
Exile (1993)

With Julian Argüelles

Skull View (1997)
Escapade (1999)

With others

Dudu Pukwana – Life in Bracknell and Willisau (1983)
Tim Whitehead's Borderline – English People (1983)
Dudu Pukwana – Zila '86 (1986)
Social Systems – Research (1987)
The Dedication Orchestra – Spirits Rejoice (1992)
Hank Roberts – Little Motor People (JMT, 1993)
Christy Doran – Play the music of Jimi Hendrix (1994)
Harry Beckett – Bates plays piano on song: 'Les Jardins du Casino' – Les Jardins du Casino (1995), Maxine (2010)
Michael Gibbs — Big Music (ACT, 1996)
Bendik Hofseth – Colours (1997)
Søren Nørbo Trio – Debates (2005)
Marius Neset – Golden XPlosion (2011)

References

External links

{{Official website}}
[https://vimeo.com/463239042 short film portrait on Django Bates and his work with ECM Records, shot in his home in Bern in 2020]
[http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1404818,00.html Django Bates and David Okumu interviewed by John Fordham], The Guardian, 4 February 2005
[http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,16373,1654991,00.html Django Bates interviewed by Pascal Wyse], The Guardian, 2 December 2005
[http://music.guardian.co.uk/jazz/reviews/story/0,,2004702,00.html "Preview: Django Bates on Tour with Soren Norbo Trio"]
[http://www.jazzpar.dk/Prize_Winners/leon_django_bates.html JazzPar Prize 1997]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080510145724/http://www.prsfoundation.co.uk/newmusicaward/pedaltones.htm Django Bates's nomination for the PRS New Music Award]
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3kREXyhrM3fHjv6dsr7FoM Django Bates] on Spotify playlist