Huw Warren & Iain Ballamy

Saxophonist Iain Ballamy and pianist Huw Warren have been at the forefront of the UK jazz scene since the late 1980s. Their duo performances are characterised by a near telepathic sense of interaction and a shared love of melodic and harmonic beauty. They have both won the BBC Jazz Award for Innovation and their work transcends stereotypes of genre and style.

Today’s concert focuses on their long standing relationship with the music of Brazil. Both are highly influenced by the amazing music of Hermeto Pascoal, and this project combines music from Huw Warren’s Choro Choro Choro project (Brazilian dance music from 1885 to the present day) with Iain’s Fascinada project which celebrates the influence and spirit of Hermeto, Egberto Gismonti, Ivan Lins and Tom Jobim through original compositions.

Choro is the vibrant beating heart at the core of Brazilian music. From its emergence in the late nineteenth century in Rio de Janeiro, it has continued to be a musical and cultural influence right up to the present day. The combination of African music elements – more specifically from Bantu and Yoruba peoples – fused with European dances and forms such as Polkas, Marches and Waltzes, created a uniquely Brazilian urban popular music.

“Warren’s love affair with Brazilian music, most notably in his association with Hermeto Pascoal, hardly needs re-affirming here. But Choro, Choro, Choro is perhaps his most personal and celebratory release yet in the domain he so cherishes” Jazzwise