Elliott Galvin Trio: International Showcase Fund
‘He reminds me of the young Django Bates, and the impression Django made on me in the 1980s – great improv chops, strong character as a player and a composer, evident love of the jazz tradition without wanting to repeat the past, very English sense of humour. He’s the kind of artist you always want to stay tuned in to, because you know he’s going to keep on coming up with surprises.’ John Fordham
ELLIOT GALVIN piano, kalimba, melodicas, accordion, cassette player and stylophone TOM McCREDIE double bass Corrie Dick drums, percussion and glockenspiel
Elliot Galvin is one of the rising stars of UK jazz. A superbly gifted composer and pianist, whose maverick imagination and magpie like ability to blend a disparate world of influences into his own unique musical vision has seen him compared to Django Bates although in truth he sounds like no one except himself. From de-constructing standards to creating his own mirco-tonal melodica, Galvin’s music is both playful and deadly serious drawing on a wide range of influences from Keith Jarrett to Stravinsky, Ligetti, Deerhof and the Beatles as well as the films of David Lynch, the Dada movement and the literature of James Joyce. Live he is utterly captivating, bringing a powerful sense of purpose to everything that he plays, and while his music is playful, he never allows the humour to sidetrack from the brilliance of his band or the seriousness of his intent. And whether swinging their way through a Sonny Clark tune, de-constructing a hoary standard, or getting funky on a melodica, the Elliot Galvin trio never forget that jazz is the art of communication – with each other and with the audience.
A regular collaborator with Laura Jurd, he also plays in a free improve duo with Mark Sanders. But his main artistic vehicle is the Elliot Galvin Trio, who in 2014 were announced as the winners of the European Young Jazz Artist of the Year Award in Germany. That same year they released their debut album ‘Dreamland’ to rave reviews, with the Guardian calling it “audaciously accomplished” ****, Jez Nelson (BBC Radio 3, Jazz on 3) saying it was “Perhaps one of the strongest debuts that I’ve heard from a UK artist in a long while… extremely bold and progressive” and The German Jazz Magazine ‘JazzThing’ naming it as one of it’s albums of the year. Their second album, Punch, on leading European jazz label, Edition Records, was released to widespread critical acclaim in July 2016.