Phil Meadows wins the 2013 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award.

Monday, December 09, 2013

Saxophonist and composer Phil Meadows has been named as the winner of the 2013 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award administered by the Musicians Benevolent Fund. Press release attached.

The following press release has been forwarded to us by the Musicians Benevolent Fund;

Performing to an impressive audition panel of Soweto Kinch, Norma Winstone MBE, Gwilym Simcock and the 606 Club’s Steve Rubie, saxophonist Phil Meadows was the unanimous choice to receive the prestigious Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2013.

A former Arches Scholar at Trinity Laban, Phil has been working as a freelance musician and composer since he graduated in 2012. Lead alto sax with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain, he became the youngest British saxophonist at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam where he was a finalist in the European Keep an Eye Jazz Soloist Competition. Phil’s musical inspiration comes from the work of jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Joe Henderson and John Coltrane.

The Phil Meadows Group includes other fast rising young jazz stars, including Laura Jurd, Elliot Galvin, Conor Chaplin and Simon Roth.

The £4,000 award will allow the group to collaborate with a larger ensemble of musicians, leading to the recording of a major new album in 2014. Phil will also receive mentoring. He says:

I am very excited to have been offered the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2013. It comes at a crucial moment in my career and will enable me to develop my creative ambitions and profile as a musician, composer and band leader in a way that would not otherwise have been possible.

Now one of the UK’s most acclaimed jazz musicians, Soweto Kinch won the award in 2003 and returned this year as a panellist to support the next generation of rising stars. He said:

As a previous winner of the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award, I know that the endorsement and support offered by this award makes a massive difference when you’re starting out as a jazz musician. I was thrilled to be involved on the panel this year and wish all the talented musicians who auditioned the very best of luck as they develop their careers.

Also at the auditions were the Elliot Galvin Trio who were offered a Musicians Benevolent Fund Development Award to support their plans to develop a new multimedia collaboration combining live music with film.

Established in memory of Peter Whittingham, an expert in survival medicine, the family’s connection with the award continues, with Peter Whittingham’s son-in-law Clive Shelton chairing the panel.

Over the past 20 years, other winners have included Scott Stroman, Errollyn Wallen, Dave O’Higgins, Empirical, Led Bib and Roller Trio, who were nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize and best jazz act at the 2012 MOBO awards. The winner of the 2012 awards, trumpeter and composer Reuben Fowler, used the award to record his critically acclaimed debut album Between Shadows.

About the Musicians Benevolent Fund
The Musicians Benevolent Fund is the leading UK charity for emerging, professional and retired musicians of all genres. It helps at times of crisis, supporting artists hit by challenges such as injury, life-changing circumstances, terminal illness or heading into retirement, but also at times of opportunity, giving people the extra help they need at a crucial stage that could make or break their career.

Help Musicians UK
As part of our aim to be recognised by all musicians across the UK as a vital source of support, we are adopting a new name: Help Musicians UK. We will be presenting our new look in January 2014.

About the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award
The Peter Whittingham Jazz Award is open to those who are studying full time on a recognised jazz course or in the first two years of entering a professional career. £4,000 is available to be awarded and recipients will also benefit from career guidance from the Musicians Union.
The award is made following auditions to a leading panel of jazz experts. They look for talent, creativity and project proposals that have contemporary significance and relevance in today’s changing music industry. Previously funded projects have included jazz festivals, education workshops, album recordings and tours.
Peter Whittingham was an expert in survival medicine. He was a gifted pianist who particularly enjoyed the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, George Shearing, Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. The Award was set up by Peter Whittingham’s family in 1989 and is administered by the Musicians Benevolent Fund.

Phil Meadows’ website http://www.philmeadowsmusic.co.uk carries the following statement regarding the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award;

It is with an unmanageable amount of excitement that I can now release the news that I have been awarded the ?Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2013′. It is a real honour to receive such a prestigious award and a huge thank you goes to the Musicians Benevolent Fund for supporting my creative and artistic development. December 3rd was both a nerve wracking and exciting audition day at the Premises studio’s in Hoxton and having seen a number of my good friends turn up with interesting, boundary busting and inspirational projects I feel incredibly humbled to have been successful in their company. The panel of Norma Winstone, Gwilym Simcock, Soweto Kinch and Steve Rubie chaired by Peter Whittingham’s son-in-law Clive Shelton put me through my paces and it brings me great joy to know that they felt as passionate about my application as I did.
The award is going to allow me to work on an ambitious project involving twenty-five of my favourite musicians with the Phil Meadows Group at the heart of it all. We’re going to try to break down stylistic boundaries and combine audiences through a host of original music on an industrial scale. There’s the commission of a new ensemble, a compositional and recording project, performance platform and educational programme set to unfold and I’ll be releasing more information over the coming months in what promises to be the most exciting year yet for my music.

Ian adds;

Congratulations to Phil on the granting of this award. I recently purchased a copy of “Engines Of Creation”, the debut album by the Phil Meadows Group. It’s an excellent record that displays enormous promise and is a fine piece of work in its own right.