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BBC New Generation Artist 2008-10, the work of trumpeter, flügelhornist and composer Tom Arthurs finds itself in increasingly unique territory, drawing influence from music ranging from György Ligeti to the pygmies of Central Africa, the work of film directors Andrei Tarkovsky and Jean-Luc Godard and the philosophies and creations of pioneering chefs Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal.
Rooted in the European jazz and improvised music tradition, Tom's music is one of assimilation rather than of fusion, and one that sets out to explore the relationships between improvisation and composition, as well as between a family of musicians with whom he has been collaborating for several years.
Winner of the Peter Whittingham Award, thrice-nominated in the BBC Jazz Awards (Best Instrumentalist and Rising Star), and a previous participent in the Serious/PRSF/Jerwood Take Five scheme, Tom has been featured extensively on BBC Radio 3 as part of the New Generation Scheme and beyond, and has performed all over the world, with festival credits including Berlin, Cheltenham, Moers, Bath, Jazzd'or, London, Manchester, Belfast and Jerusalem.
As a composer, Tom has recently been awarded commissions from the BBC/RPS for both the City of London Festival (Postcards from Pushkin with Richard Fairhurst), and the BBC Proms (And Distant Shore, with Richard Fairhurst and ace classical trumpeter Giuliano Sommerhalder), as well as the Geneva Downtown Orchestra for a suite of music for a 9-piece ensemble with Arthurs.Høiby.Ritchie at it's centre. 2010 saw the comission of Fire Paintings (for Yves Klein), which was performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra with Tom and drummer Stuart Ritchie. Currently living between London and Berlin, Tom has released four much-acclaimed albums on London independents Babel and Not Applicable, and his current main projects are:
- arthurs.høiby.ritchie: long running trio with Jasper Høiby (bass) and Stuart Ritchie (drums). 'Explications' was released on Not Applicable in 2008. AHR have also been working with the Elysian Quartet (in England) and the Gerdur Gunnarsdottir Quartet in Berlin (both string quartets) on a collaborative project.
- Duo with pianist Richard Fairhurst: delicate and intimate duets, part improvised, part composed. 'Mesmer' was released on Babel in 2007, and Postcards from Pushkin was commissioned by the BBC/RPS and City of London Festival in 2009. This music will be released in 2010.
More collaborative and current sideman projects include:
Miles Perkin Quartet with Benoît Delbecq (p), Miles Perkin (b) and Thom Gossage (d)
H3B with Denis Badault (p), Régis Huby (v) and Séb Boisseau (b)
Quartet with Philipp Gropper (s), Marc Lohr (d) and Petter Eldh (b)
Trio with Miles Perkin (b) and Yorgos Dimitriadis (d)
Not Applicable Artists, oft. with Sam Britton (e),
Ollie Bown (e), Lothar Ohlmeier (s,c)
Duo with Simon Vincent (e)
Besides his own projects Tom has also been performing and recording with John Surman, John Taylor, Jack DeJohnette, Iain Ballamy, Thomas Strønen, Nicolas Masson, Tom Rainey, Ingrid Laubrock, Andreas Willers, John Schröder, Matthew Bourne, Mark Lockheart, Kenny Wheeler, James Allsopp, Julie Sassoon, Lothar Ohlmeier, Stéphane Payen, Seb Rochford and electronic music manipulators Icarus.
Tom is a member of London's F-IRE Collective, and the Not Applicable artists, and studied with Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano and Jim Black at Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada) back in 2001. He is also one of the key movers in the Zoom! project, the foundation of a European 'Collective of Collectives'.
www.tomarthurs.co.uk
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