Young jazz artists in spotlight
B:Music, the music charity responsible for Birmingham 's Town Hall and Symphony Hall, announced two new commissions for young Birmingham-based jazz musicians.
Baritone saxophonist Alicia Gardener-Trejo and guitarist Steve Saunders are the successful applicants in this year 's annual Jazzlines Commission, and they will perform their new compositions at the world-renowned Symphony Hall on Sunday 30 October.
The B:Music Jazzlines Commission, now in its third year, is a unique talent development opportunity that pairs two individual Birmingham jazz artists with artists of their choice from outside Birmingham to each co-create a 45-minute set of brand-new music.
This year sees Alicia Gardener-Trejo working with Scottish bass player Brodie Jarvie, and Steve Saunders working with Danish alto saxophonist Asger Nissen. Alicia and Steve will be supported by the B:Music team and given use of spaces in Symphony Hall and Town Hall for rehearsals and development.
Alicia Gardener-Trejo is a Birmingham-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator. She has collaborated with artists including Percy Pursglove, Jeff Williams, Natalie Sandtorv, Jason Singh, Mark Sanders, Faye MacCalman and Paul Dunmall, and is a member of Surge Orchestra, Gospel Revisited Project, Reworkestra and Birmingham Jazz Orchestra.
As a composer, she has been commissioned to write for the Greater Manchester Jazz Orchestra and Surge Orchestra, and has featured on recordings played on BBC Radio 3, Jazz FM, BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 6 Music.
Alicia Gardner-Trejo said: “The music that Brodie and I are composing together celebrates the people, places, objects and music that we hold most dear. The collaboration began over the 2020 lockdown period when we would send each other musical ideas and sketches in the post to work with and build upon. ”
Steve Saunders is one of the most exciting young players on the Birmingham jazz scene. In June this year, he performed his brilliant composition Abstract Visions for a Foreign Land for an eleven-piece band on the Symphony Hall stage.
This work showed Steve's excellence as a composer, merging influences from contemporary classical composers Tristan Murail and Gerard Grisey with his training in jazz. Steve has worked on commissions from the UK and US, including the recent premiere of his solo piano piece, Assimilation (or a failure in the art thereof), written for Contemporary Arts Jazz Ensemble, as well as the premiere of his work TIMEBEING (for two improvisers) for Birmingham-based art gallery Centrala.
Steve Saunders commented: “My project with Asger will be a bass-less trio featuring the great Jeff Williams on drums. Asger and I met during my time studying at the Jazz-Institut Berlin in my third year at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. We bonded over a shared love of cutting edge and contemporary music.
Therefore, this project is a chance for us to explore bringing these contemporary classical influences into an improvised context whilst being firmly rooted in the jazz tradition, with a master drummer who couldn 't be more connected to the history of jazz.
B:Music 's Jazzlines Commission programme is very kindly funded by the PRS Foundation, supporting and inspiring the next generation of the city 's musical talent.
Pictured from left to right: Alicia Gardner-Trejo and Steve Saunders