Camilla George (born 1988) is a Nigerian-born British jazz saxophonist, composer and band leader, who has lived in West London, England, since childhood. Her music blends

Afrofuturism Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture ...

and jazz, fusing African and Western styles, with a strong connection to her Nigerian identity. An associate over the years of such music initiatives as

Tomorrow's Warriors Tomorrow's Warriors (TW) is a jazz music education and artist development organisation that was co-founded in 1991 by Janine Irons and Gary Crosby, committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equality across the arts through jazz, with ...

, Nu Civilisation Orchestra and

Jazz Jamaica Jazz Jamaica is a British jazz/reggae music group founded by musician Gary Crosby in London in 1991. History In 1991, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Jamaican music and the largely improvisational nature of jazz, Gary Crosby — one of ...

, she has been a frequent performer at prominent venues in the UK such as

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...

and the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...

at London's

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

, as well as internationally. George has played in collaboration with many notable musicians in the course of her career, among them

Nubya Garcia Nubya Nyasha Garcia (born 1991) is a British jazz musician, Saxophone, saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Early life and education Garcia was born in 1991 in Camden Town, London, the youngest of four siblings, to a Guyanese people, Guyanese ...

Shabaka Hutchings Shabaka Hutchings (born 1984), also known simply as Shabaka, is a British jazz musician, composer and bandleader. He leads the band Shabaka and the Ancestors, and formerly led Sons of Kemet before its dissolution in 2022. He was also a member ...

, Tom Harrison,

Ernest Ranglin Ernest Ranglin (born 19 June 1932) is a Jamaican guitarist and composer who established his career while working as a session guitarist and music director for various Jamaican record labels, including Studio One and Island Records. Ranglin pl ...

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964) is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

, Zara McFarlane,

Moses Boyd Moses Boyd (born 30 April 1991) is a British jazz drummer, composer, record producer, bandleader and radio host. His debut solo studio album ''Dark Matter'' (2020) was nominated for the 2020 Mercury Prize. In 2014, Boyd and saxophonist Binke ...

, China Moses,

Tony Kofi Tony Kofi (born 10 July 1966) is a British jazz saxophonist and flautist. He leads a trio and quartet and is co-founder of the Monk Liberation Band. His trio includes drummer Winston Clifford and Hammond B3 organist Anders Olinder. Kofi is sign ...

, Jason Yarde and

Soweto Kinch Soweto Kinch (born 10 January 1978) is a British jazz saxophonist and rapper. Biography Born in 1978 in London, England, to a Barbadian father, playwright Don Kinch, and British-Jamaican actress Yvette Harris, Soweto Kinch began playing ...

, and others, in addition to forming her own group, the CGQ (Camilla George Quartet).

Biography

Camilla George was born in 1988 in

Eket Eket is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name ''Eket'' or Ekid also refers to the indigenous people of the region who are the Ibibio people of the southern part of Ibibioland and to their dialect which is E ...

, Nigeria, "the only child of a British-Nigerian mother, a psychotherapist, and a Grenadian father, a tailor who worked on

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

", and when she was about three years old, the family relocated to England. Thanks to her parents' record collection, she grew up listening to a wide range of music, including

highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, by such musicians as

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

Jackie McLean John Lenwood McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their death. Bio ...

and

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

. Speaking to

Dave Gelly Dave Gelly MBE (born 28 January 1938) is a British jazz critic. A long-standing contributor to ''The Observer'', he was named Jazz Writer of the Year in the 1999 British Jazz Awards. Gelly is also a jazz saxophonist and broadcaster, presenting a ...

in a 2017 interview for the

National Jazz Archive The National Jazz Archive is a collection of materials pertaining to jazz and blues that is kept at the Loughton Library in Essex, England. The archive was founded by British trumpeter Digby Fairweather in 1998 and contains visual and print mater ...

, George said she began to gravitate towards jazz because of regular visits with her mother to the

Ealing Jazz Festival Ealing Jazz Festival is an annual Summer jazz festival in Ealing's Walpole Park in London, United Kingdom. It was first held in 1984. In 2016, concern was raised after Ealing Council announced it was to take over management of the festival from ...

and in particular because of exposure to the "huge vinyl collection" of her father – "that's where I started to learn about who was who in jazz. He loved

Sidney Bechet Sidney Joseph Bechet ( ; May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Ar ...

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and record producer. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note Reco ...

Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...

and I kind of got to love jazz through him I think." The first album she bought herself was 1957's '' Sonny Side Up'', featuring

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

. George began playing the saxophone at the age of 11, when she was a pupil at Bishop Ramsey School in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is a suburb in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London. Prior to 1965 it was in Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

, after winning a competition that offered free music tuition and an instrument, and not long afterwards met Gary Crosby and

Janine Irons Janine Mireille Irons is a British music educator, artist manager and producer, who in 1991 co-founded with her partner Gary Crosby the music education and professional development organisation Tomorrow's Warriors, of which she is Chief Executi ...

, founders of jazz music education and artist development organisation

. As George recalls:

"My mum had taken me to a few gigs. I grew up in west London and we'd been to the Ealing Jazz Festival. Then mum saw that
Jazz Jamaica Jazz Jamaica is a British jazz/reggae music group founded by musician Gary Crosby in London in 1991. History In 1991, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Jamaican music and the largely improvisational nature of jazz, Gary Crosby — one of ...
was playing at Harrow Arts Centre. Afterwards we met Gary rosbyand Janine ronsand mum said I'd just got a sax. And they were so nice to me. They said, you need to come to the Warriors project, we run workshops, they're free. And I was speaking to
Denys Baptiste Denys Baptiste (born 1969) is an English jazz musician. A graduate of Tomorrow's Warriors, Baptiste plays tenor and soprano saxophone in addition to composing. Baptiste played with Gary Crosby and Nu Troop, before releasing in 1999 his debu ...
and Jason Yarde, who were in the lineup that night. It was a great moment."

Working since 2004 with Tomorrow's Warriors, in 2009 she joined Crosby's

, the group being nominated in 2013 for a

MOBO Award The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Bant ...

for Jazz Performance. In 2014, she joined the "Venus Warriors", an all-female group put together by

, and also in that year she formed her own group the CGQ (Camilla George Quartet). Meanwhile, George also attended

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

, where she studied with

Jean Toussaint Jean Toussaint (born July 27, 1960) is an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. Life and career Toussaint was born in Aruba, Dutch Antilles, and was raised in Saint Thomas and New York City. He learned to play calypso as a child and atte ...

Julian Siegel Julian H. Siegel (born 1966) is a British jazz saxophone and clarinet player, and a composer and arranger, described by ''MOJO Magazine'' as "One of the UK's most creative saxophonists". Siegel has toured and recorded with Greg Cohen and Joey Ba ...

and

Martin Speake Martin Speake (born 1958) is a British saxophonist. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He previously taught at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich. Speake has recorded ...

, winning the Archer Scholarship for outstanding performance in 2011, and earning a master's degree in Jazz Performance in 2012. The fusion of African, Caribbean and American influences is apparent in her music, as in her 2017 debut album ''Isang''. Her follow-up album ''The People Could Fly'' was released in 2018, and is inspired by a book based on African folktales and the stories of enslaved people. Her third studio album, ''Ibio-Ibio'', enabled by a PRS Foundation Momentum award, celebrates her tribe, the

Ibibio people The Ibibio people ( ), also known as Ibom People or Ibom are a coastal people in southern Nigeria. They are mostly found in Akwa Ibom State, Akwa Ibom, Cross River State, Cross River, and the Eastern part of Abia State. During the Colonial Nigeri ...

of southern Nigeria, and their original culture and religion. George was nominated for an

Urban Music Award The Urban Music Awards (UMA) are a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony that was launched in the UK by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in multiple countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards ...

for Best Jazz artist in 2017 and 2018, and was nominated as Best Instrumentalist in 2019 in the

Jazz FM Awards Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African Americans, African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, s ...

, and was also a finalist in the DC Jazz Prix in 2021. Since February 2024, George has been serving as a trustee of Tomorrow's Warriors.

Discography

* 2017: ''Isang'' (Ubuntu Music – UBU0004) * 2018: ''The People Could Fly'' (Ubuntu Music – UBU0015) * 2022: ''Ibio-Ibio'' (Ever Records/!K7 Music)

Awards

* PRS Foundation Momentum Award

References

External links

Camilla George website

"Camilla George interview - 'Ibio-Ibio', cultural roots, the London jazz scene, and more! (2022)"
''Face Culture Podcast'', 29 September 2022.
"MUSIC , Mastering the art of playing the sax: Camilla George"
SABC News, 16 June 2024.
"JLR Interview Series - Camilla George December 2024"
interview with

Filomena Campus Filomena Campus is a jazz singer, composer, lyricist, academic and theatre director, who was born in Sardinia and since 2001 has been based in London, England.

, Jazz London Radio, 31 December 2024. {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Camilla 1988 births 21st-century Black British musicians 21st-century Black British women musicians 21st-century British women musicians Tomorrow's Warriors alumni Alumni of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance British jazz bandleaders British people of Grenadian descent British women jazz composers British women jazz musicians British women jazz saxophonists Living people Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom