Tom Arthurs Trio with Marc Schmolling and Markku Ounaskari

Album Launch

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Last Show: Saturday 10 th March 2018

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

The Berlin-based English trumpeter and composer Tom Arthurs, described by Jazzwise as "a world class improviser”, is regarded as the natural heir to the lyrical jazz legacy of the great Kenny Wheeler, creating music of exquisite beauty, space and spirit. This very rare UK date presents the launch of his latest album, ‘One Year’, from Tom’s international all-star trio, with pianist Marc Schmolling, and percussionist Markku Ounaskari, famed for his ECM recordings with Tomasz Stanko. 

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"A master flugelhorn improviser"

John Fordham, The Guardian, UK

One Year is the stunning new project from Berlin-based trumpeter and composer Tom Arthurs - proposing a music of exquisite beauty, space and spirit, and performed by a trio united by friendship and an unwavering commitment to clarity and the divine. 

Written and developed over the course of one year, and one in which many things came to pass, this group reunites Arthurs, “a world-class improviser” (Jazzwise, UK) and “u ne révélation ” (Citizen Jazz, FR), with friend and Berlin-neighbour Marc Schmolling (piano), whilst introducing Finnish percussionist Markku Ounaskari - best known for his ECM recordings, and performances with the likes of Tomasz Stanko, Trygve Seim and Sinikka Langeland.

Arthurs’ releases in a similar vein, Postcards for Pushkin (2009) and Mesmer (2006), have already garnered substantial acclaim, Jazzwise noting that: 'This is music to hear pin drops by... in essence it's the chance to eavesdrop on two considerable intelligences communing without words'', and The Guardian's John Fordham described Postcards as ''a little gem”, and Mesmer as a “subtle and beautifully performed dialogue... [in which] every sound has a refinement that camouflages the spontaneity that released it”. Arthurs, whose reputation has spread considerably since his appearances on German pianist Julia Hülsmann's ECM recordings, is increasingly seen by many as something of an heir to Kenny Wheeler's vast legacy (as Fordham points out, the comparison is more “a compliment to his imagination and beautiful sound, not his powers of mimicry”), and One Year substantially expands upon these already-strong foundations - creating a uniquely personal music of filigraine textures, grand architectures, space, silence, and the feeling of time standing still.

It is music of depth, warmth, humility and humour, as well as of beauty and of emotion. Music that is abstract but that simultaneously tells a story. Music that draws deeply on the jazz tradition, whilst looking both forwards and backwards. Music that will not sound unfamiliar to lovers of musicians including Wheeler, John Taylor, Paul Bley, Bill Evans and Jimmy Guiffre, but that also encompasses the work of composers such as Morton Feldman and John Cage, baroque music, various 'pre-World Music' African and folk musics, and singers including Gal Costa, Arto Lindsay and Violetta Parra.

Band Lineup

Band Line Up

Tom Arthurs (trumpet)

Marc Schmolling (piano)

Markku Ounaskari (drums and percussion)