Upcoming Gigs

Born in West London of Jamaican parents on 26 January 1955, Gary Crosby has been acknowledged as one of this country’s pioneer Black British jazz talents and one of the most important bandleaders in the UK.

Gary studied the double bass under Peter Ind and, from starting as a member of Ed Bentley’s band, went on to work with many accomplished artists such as George Lee, Frank Roberts, Peter Segona and Roger Thomas. In 1985, Gary became one of the founder members of the Jazz Warriors, the formation of which was one of the most important events in British jazz history. Since then, he has played with other notable luminaries including Courtney Pine, Ernest Ranglin (Gary’s uncle), Art Farmer, Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Sonny Fortune, Stanley Turrentine, Jean Toussaint, Julian Joseph, Art Blakey, Jon Hendricks, Larry Coryell, Carmen Lundy, Marlene Shaw, Vanessa Rubin, Steve Williamson, Julian Joseph, Orphy Robinson, Johnny Griffin, Cleveland Watkiss, and more.

Gary leads three key bands of his own (Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop, Jazz Jamaica, Jazz Jamaica All Stars – see separate profiles) providing regular employment for several young musicians. In many ways, he is regarded as a latter-day Art Blakey figure, using his own outfits as a foil for talented young artists to develop their profiles. All of his bands have toured internationally and are ranked amongst the best bands in world.

Gary is well known for his unbounded and tireless commitment to helping young people - musicians, dancers, writers and visual artists - develop successful careers in jazz, and this has been duly acknowledged by his receipt, in 1993, of a Straight No Chaser magazine award for services to the industry and, later, in his entries in the Grove Encyclopaedia of Jazz, the Guinness Book of Who’s Who In Jazz, and The Rough Guide To Jazz. Over the years, he has gained the respect of musicians, promoters, arts organisations and others involved in the music industry, not only for his musical skills, but also for his vision and ability to make things happen.

As individual members of the Jazz Warriors drifted off to pursue solo careers, the big band was eventually disbanded leaving a vacuum in the jazz scene as there was no creative network or peer support for young musicians. In 1991, Gary established Tomorrow’s Warriors, providing a platform and peer network for talented young musicians who wished to pursue a career in jazz. He established a weekly jam session at London’s celebrated Jazz Café in Camden, inviting young musicians to join him on stage to jam. This jam session provided a regular performance outlet for hundreds of musicians over the years and can claim a certain amount of credit for bringing many of today’s rising and established jazz stars into the public’s and media’s awareness.

Over the next 13 years, Gary established the Tomorrow’s Warriors weekly Jazz Café Jam Session as something of an institution and, in the process, developed four generations of Warriors (Nu Troop, J-Life, Denys Baptiste Quartet, and Soweto Kinch Quartet) into leading artists/bands on the international jazz scene. In 2004, the Tomorrow’s Warriors Jam Session moved to its current residence at The Spice Of Life in the heart of London’s Soho district. It is now the longest running, and most highly regarded jam session in London (and possibly the UK). Tomorrow’s Warriors continues to develop the careers of young musicians and is now commencing the development of its sixth and seventh generation of Warriors.

In 1995, Gary was engaged by Mercury Music Entertainment (formerly Nippon Phonogram) to coordinate an album featuring many of the original Jazz Warriors paying tribute to the reggae star, Bob Marley. The album, One Love: A Tribute To Bob Marley, was released in Japan in February 1996 and later, worldwide, featuring Courtney Pine, Orphy Robinson, Cleveland Watkiss, Juliet Roberts, Carroll Thompson, Dennis Rollins, Omar, Tony Remy, Steve Williamson, and Noel McCoy.

In 1996, Gary and his partner, Janine Irons, established The Dune Music Company Ltd, a commercial company comprising four divisions: artist management, record label, music publishing, and education. Since Dune’s first release in 1997, Gary and Janine have established the label as one of the highest quality independent labels in the world, and this has been duly acknowledged by the several awards and international media acclaim bestowed on Dune and its artists. To date, more than 18 major music awards have been won, including two Mercury Music Prize awards for An Album Of The Year, two MOBO awards, an Urban Music Award and several BBC Radio Jazz Awards. Indeed, Gary was the producer of the album that earned the label it’s first Mercury Prize nomination and MOBO award (with Denys Baptiste’s ‘Be Where You Are’).

In 2002, Gary was nominated for the BBC Radio Jazz Award for Services To Jazz and picked up the award for Best Band for his 20-piece big band, Jazz Jamaica All Stars. In the same year, he was honoured by the Festival Directorate of the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival, Jamaica for Consistent Contribution To Music In Jamaica, thereby securing a place in the Jamaica Jazz Hall Of Fame.

Gary is a Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors Ltd, responsible for artistic direction and a Director of The Dune Music Company Ltd.

Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop
Gary’s acoustic jazz ensemble, Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop, formed in 1991, and based on Art Blakey’s celebrated Jazz Messengers (with whom Gary performed in the early part of his career) employs graduates from the Tomorrow’s Warriors project. The original group featured the then rising-star saxophonist, Denys Baptiste and successfully released its debut album, Migrations, on 14 April 1997 on Dune Records. It was the first release on the label.

Gary encouraged each member of Nu Troop to compose works for the album. The result was an album featuring nine incredibly good original compositions which received great critical acclaim in the press and from others in the industry. Nu Troop went on to win the Best Ensemble 1998 Award at the Jazz à Vienne Festival International Band Competition in France in July 1998 with the band’s tenorist, Denys Baptiste, picking up Best Soloist 1998 (3rd).

Over the years, the lineup of Nu Troop has evolved and now features Denys Baptiste (tenor sax), Soweto Kinch (alto sax), Abram Wilson (trumpet/vocals), Andrew McCormack (piano), Rod Youngs (drums) and, of course, Gary. This all-star line-up is proof indeed of Gary's expertise in spotting the stars of the future!

This new band has also achieved critical acclaim, not only for their original material but also for their classic album tributes, for example Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue, Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, Wynton Marsalis’ Black Codes (from the Underground), Hancock’s Maiden Voyage, and many others.

Jazz Jamaica / Jazz Jamaica All Stars
In 1991, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Jamaican music and the largely improvisational nature of jazz Gary turned a musical concept into a joyful reality.

Gary’s concept was to create a quintessential fusion of mento, ska, reggae and jazz, playing classic and modern jazz standards alongside Jamaican folksongs. To achieve this, he gathered together a group of musicians drawn from the jazz and reggae circuits, each of whom was a distinguished musician in his own right. The result was Jazz Jamaica ... a wonderful 9-piece dance band.

Over the next 8 years, Gary successfully developed the Jazz Jamaica concept by introducing a stream of talented young jazz musicians, so increasing the size of the pool of "Jazz Jamaicans", and enabling him to extend the boundaries of the music played. Collectively, Gary and his musicians represent the finest exponents of this unique musical fusion known as skazz, a fusion loved and appreciated by everyone, of all ages and colours around the globe.

After recording four great albums with Jazz Jamaica, Gary was ready to move to the next stage.

In March 1999 he took his concept further by expanding the core lineup of Jazz Jamaica to formal big band status adding a raft of guest soloists. The result was the Jazz Jamaica All Stars, a 20-piece band featuring three generations of musicians of all colours between the ages of 24 and 72, drawn from diverse sectors of the jazz community. The line up featured vocals, five saxophones, four trumpets, and four trombones with a rhythm section of double bass, piano, drums, guitar and percussion. Featured artists include Denys Baptiste, Andy Sheppard, Soweto Kinch, Abram Wilson, Juliet Roberts, Orphy Robinson, Guy Barker, Ashley Slater, Annie Whitehead, and Alex Wilson.

In 2001, Jazz Jamaica All Stars released a major album, Massive on Dune Records. The album was greatly acclaimed by both jazz and reggae critics alike. In 2004, the band worked with the legendary South African trumpeter, Hugh Masekela to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of South Africa’s independence.

In 2005, Gary returned to the small(ish) band format, this time adding three vocalists to the 9-piece band to pay tribute to the great legacy of the Tamla Motown label. Like their previous album, the new album, Motorcity Roots has proved a hit with the critics and audiences of all ages.

Gary has been chosen to receive the “Services to Jazz” award at the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards.