Whirlwind Recordings Showcase Featuring George Crowley & Tam De Villiers

Dubbed the "new label of the moment" (BBC Radio 2) Whirlwind Recordings was established in 2010 by US expat bass player/composer and producer Michael Janisch. Since then the label has grown considerably, releasing an eclectic catalogue of adventurous music that spans genres and age groups, but always with an emphasis on improvisation. Tonight will be the second in a series of monthly "showcases" featuring artists on the label, as well as "Special Guests" from the UK and beyond. Curated by Michael this promises to be an exciting and unique opportunity to hear some of the finest musicians around. UK-born guitarist Tam de Villiers has been living and working out of France since 2003. In that time he has established a quartet featuring the best of the French scene’s new generation musicians that, as he likes to put it "… strives for musical authenticity, compositional originality and honest group interplay". Tonight Tam will be featuring material from his 3rd and most recent CD "Panacea" launched in March this year on Whirlwind. The music itself is an eclectic blending of jazz and contemporary music, both popular and classical, performed by Tam's quartet of David Prez-sax; Frederic Chiffoleau-bass and Karl Jannuska-drums.

"A very strong musical unit...strong and characterful jazz....full of lithe movement, energy and passion" The Jazz Breakfast;
"de Villiers is a player with an enormous technical facility" The Jazz Mann;
"solidly founded on writing of a poetic sense, incontestably unique" Jazz Magazine.

George Crowley is a young sax player who, since his arrival in London in 2007 has steadily established himself as a key player within the city's burgeoning creative jazz and improv scene. A performer with an eclectic range, his playing runs from thoughtful through fiery improvisations to weaving through polyrhythmic Ghanaian trance or just romping through classic jazz standards. His energy, expressive warm saxophone sound and commitment to music make him a distinctive presence in the capital's musical landscape. Tonight, in the company of Tom Challenger-sax; Dan Nicholls-piano; Sam Lasserson-bass and Jon Scott-drums he will be performing music from his latest CD on Whirlwind "Can of Worms", which he says "explores that happy and unpredictable space where written and improvised worlds collide".

"…rugged, clever, crisply played contemporary jazz, from a fine young composer/player who knows where the music has been and where he’s headed with it" Guardian;
"keep a keen ear out for Crowley: the future could yet be his" Jazzwise