James Scannell

Already working as a jazz clarinet and sax player in his teens, James went on to win a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, a highlight of his time there being when he was chosen to play Benny Goodman's clarinet solos for a recreation of the famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. After leaving college in 1997 he joined the iconic 20's/30's band the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, touring with them for almost two years before accepting an offer of work in Berlin. That was in 1999....and he's been there ever since. Over the ensuing years he has established a solid and well deserved reputation as a versatile and highly accomplished classical, jazz and studio musician, including work with the likes of the German National Film Orchestra Babelsberg, the Berlin Session Orchestra, Till Brönner Big Band, Peter Thomas, Jocelyn B. Smith and Martha Reeves. In Berlin he can be heard playing principle clarinet in Operettes, playing in works by Kurt Weil with the State Opera, backing burlesque shows on tenor sax and leading his own swing combo Peters Peppers as well as co-leading his own jazz band Line Jam with singer Aline Staskowiak. In addition to all that he has played jazz festivals in France, Spain, Germany, England, USA , Finland, Denmark and Sweden as well as concert performances in Singapore, Switzerland, China and UEA. His jazz influences are many and varied, from Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet through Benny Goodman to Charlie Parker and Michael Brecker. As he says "The obsession with mastering different styles has taken me down many musical paths in my long career. Expect an evening of intensity and mellowness, simplicity and complexity, hard bop tenor and alto sax with diversions to the worlds of swing and New Orleans jazz". Accompanied by a fiercely swinging world class trio featuring John Pearce (Scott Hamilton, Peggy Lee, Woody Shaw) piano, Simon Woolf (Benny Golson, Harry Allen, Ruby Braff) bass and Sebastiaan de Krom (Herbie Hancock, Jamie Cullum) drums this, James's first date in the UK for 15 years, promises to be something quite special.