Iain Ballamy
Iain Mark Ballamy (born February 20, 1964 in Guildford ) is a British jazz saxophonist (alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, composition).
Live and act
Ballamy, whose father is a pianist, first learned the piano and, at the age of 14, autodidactically the alto saxophone . In 1983 he founded the quartet Iains (with whom he appeared at Ronnie Scott’s ), but also played in a large formation around Graham Collier , from which the Loose Tubes emerged in 1984 , for which he and co-director Django Bates then interspersed with humorous quotes Composed works. He continued to play in Bill Bruford's fusion group Earth Works . He then had his own groups (initially with Dave Barlow, Mario Castronari , Steve Argüelles ). He worked with Billy Jenkins , John Taylor , Stan Sulzmann , John Stevens , Gil Evans , George Coleman , Linda Sharrock , Mike Gibbs , Django Bates, Ray Russell , Hermeto Pascoal , Cedar Walton , Michiel Braam and McCoy Tyner . In 1995 he formed “The Hungry Ants” with pianist Richard Fairhurst .
In 1999 Ballamy founded his own label, Feral Records , for which albums such as “Pepper Street Interludes” (with Norma Winstone , 1999) or “Organic And GM Food” were created. In 2004 he performed with the Norwegian accordionist Stian Carstensen at the JazzFest Berlin . He also wrote theater, ballet and film scores ( MirrorMask ).
According to Martin Kunzler , Ballamy is “next to Courtney Pine the most important British saxophonist of the younger generation”. He has taught at the Conservatories of Birmingham and Copenhagen, and at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music in London.
Prizes and awards
In 1985 Ballamy was awarded the John Dankworth Cup as best soloist. In 2001 he received the BBC's Jazz Innovation Award . The album Quercus , together with June Tabor and Huw Warren , received the 2013 German Record Critics' Prize .
Quote
“ Improvising is not a question of security. You can certainly improvise if you want to, but the fulfillment comes from risky improvisation. "
Discographic notes
- Iain Ballamy, Ian Shaw , Jamie Safir: What's New? (Silent Wish Records, 2020)
Lexigraphic articles
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
- Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 1: A – L (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16512). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16512-0 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Iain Ballamy in the catalog of the German National Library
- Web presence with discography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ballamy, Iain |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ballamy, Iain Mark (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British jazz saxophonist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 20, 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guildford |