Django Bates

Django Bates
Background information
Birth nameLeon Bates
Born (1960-10-02) 2 October 1960 (age 64)
Beckenham, Kent, England
GenresJazz, jazz fusion
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, educator
Instrument(s)Piano, keyboards, tenor horn
Years active1980s–present
LabelsEG, ECM, Lost Marble, Screwgun, JMT
Websitewww.djangobates.co.uk

Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960)[1] is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musicians Britain has produced... his work covers the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz through to bebop and free jazz to jazz-rock fusion."[2]

In addition to his jazz work, he is also a classical composer (writing both large- and small-scale compositions on commission), theatre composer, and has taught as a professor at various European music schools. As a leader, his bands have included Human Chain, Delightful Precipice, Quiet Nights, Powder Room Collapse Orchestra and Belovèd, and he was also a leading figure in Loose Tubes and Bill Bruford's Earthworks.

  1. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 189/190. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. ^ Vande Kappelle, Robert P. (7 April 2011). Blue Notes: Profiles of Jazz Personalities. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 319. ISBN 978-1-61097-283-3.