Mick Hutton (born 5 June 1956 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, UK) is a British jazz bassist and composer.

Career

'He plays a lotta bass' - Al Grey, jazz trombonist Classically trained on the piano, Hutton taught himself to play the bass, developing his own technique using three basic positions with the left hand coupled with three fingers on the right hand. He has been well known on the British jazz scene since 1980 and has toured extensively in Europe, Scandinavia, USA and Japan. He has recorded over 100 jazz CD's and also worked in film and television, recording several hundred radio broadcasts in Europe and the USA. He has recorded with

Julian Argüelles Julian Argüelles (born 28 January 1966) is an English jazz saxophonist. He is best known for his work during the 1980s and '90s with the ensemble Loose Tubes. Argüelles has also worked extensively as a solo performer and with American and E ...

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the 25 greatest jazz saxophonists of all time and was featured as one of the world's all-time greats in ''BBC Music Magazine''s "100 Jazz Legen ...

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) 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 musici ...

and

Ken Stubbs Ken Stubbs (born 29 March 1961) is an English jazz musician, alto saxophonist and composer. Early life Ken Stubbs was born in Old Swan, Liverpool, United Kingdom and later attended Blackpool Grammar School. In 1978-80 he studied saxophone, compo ...

('' First House''), the

Chris Biscoe Chris Biscoe (born 5 February 1947, East Barnet, Hertfordshire, England) is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute. Biscoe is most notable for his ...

Sextet and

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

's Band Earthworks. In addition, Hutton worked throughout his career with Alan Barnes,

Peter Erskine Peter Clark Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the d ...

Tina May Daphne Christina May (30 March 1961 – 26 March 2022), known professionally as Tina May, was an English jazz vocalist. Early life and career The younger of two daughters born to Harry May and Daphne E. Walton,Jim Mullen Jim Mullen (born 26 November 1945) is a Scottish, Glasgow-born jazz guitarist with a distinctive style, like Wes Montgomery before him, picking with the thumb rather than a plectrum. Biography Jim Mullen was guitarist with Pete Brown & Piblo ...

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

Alan Skidmore Alan Richard James Skidmore (born 21 April 1942) is an English jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore. Career He was born in London, England. Skidmore began his professional career in his teens, and early in his care ...

, Tommy Smith,

John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar is the name of: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) ...

Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album '' Jazz Suite Insp ...

, and

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

. In 2002 he played on

Robin Williamson Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of the Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinbu ...

s album ''Skirting the River Road'', and the same year he played in a trio with Martin Speake and

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer of Armenian descent. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. Motian first came t ...

(''Change of Heart''). In the 90's, in addition to leading his own band, he started working with Steve Arguelles, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, John Surman, Gary Husband and numerous American artists including John Scofield, Bob Berg and Randy Brecker. Hutton had a thirty year association with Trinidadian pianist and steel pannist Russ Henderson MBE, one of the founders of the Notting Hill Carnival; Hutton wrote Russ's obituary for the Independent Newspaper on 08 September 2015. He was also a member of the Humphrey Lyttelton band for several years during the course of which he also played with Acker Bilk, George Melly and Kenny Ball. Hutton has also studied and recorded with various other instruments such as steel pan and cuatro. Since 2004 he has had his own band, The Boat Rockers, featuring Paul Robinson, Gary Hammond and Andy Panayi. Most recently he recorded a film with Emeli Sande about Nina Simone for Sky Arts. Mick is currently recuperating after a head injury which occurred at Christmas 2024 (information by his brother, Anthony).

Selected discography

With

Harry Beckett Harold Winston Beckett (30 May 1935 – 22 July 2010) was a British trumpeter and flugelhorn player of Barbadian origin. Biography Born in Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados, Harry Beckett learned to play music in a Salvation Army band. A ...

*1985: ''Pictures of You'' (Paladin) With The Gordon Beck Quintet *1985: ''Celebration'' (JMS) With First House *1986: '' Eréndira'' (

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

) *1989: ''

Cantilena A (Italian for "lullaby" and Latin for "old, familiar song") is a vocal melody or instrumental passage in a smooth, lyrical style. References {{classical-music-stub Classical music styles ...

'' (ECM) With The Chris Biscoe Sextet *1986: ''Eréndira'' (Walking Wig) With

's Earthworks *1987: '' Earthworks'' ( Edition) *1997: ''Heavenly Bodies'' (Venture) With John Taylor Trio *1991: ''Blue Glass'' ( Ronnie Scott's Jazz House) With Tommy Smith *1991: ''Standards'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

) With Steve Argüelles *1991: ''Steve Argüelles'' (Ah Um) With Nick Purnell *1991: ''Onetwothree'' (Ah Um) With Lysis *1991: ''The Wings of the Whale – You Yangs'' (Soma) With Stan Sulzman *1991: ''Feudal Rabbits'' (Ah Um) With Estelle Kokot *1999: ''Alternative Therapy'' (Sayin' Somethin') With

*2000:''

Ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

'' (Cherry ) With

*2002: ''Skirting the River Road'' (ECM) With

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1945) is an English Rock music, rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe (band), Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest su ...

Humphrey Lyttelton Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family. Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...

*2002: ''Trouble in Mind'' (Slave to the Rhythm) With

Gary Husband Gary Husband (born 14 June 1960) is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger, producer and educator. Husband was a member for 16 years of John McLaughlin's group The 4th Dimen ...

*2004: ''Aspire'' (Jazzizit) With Liam Noble Group *2004: ''In the Meantime'' (Basho) With Martin Speake *2006: ''Change of Heart'' (ECM) With

Joanna Eden Joanna Eden is an English jazz singer, songwriter and pianist. Biography Eden was born in Lincolnshire into a musical family, the daughter of an RAF bass player, John, and a drama teacher, Diana. She started learning the piano at six and perfo ...

*2007: ''My Open Eye'' (Mr. Riddles) With The Boat-Rockers *2007: ''Live at Appleby 2004'' (Mick Hutton) With

Tim Garland Tim Garland (born 19 October 1966) is a British jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His compositions draw from modern jazz and classical concert music. Career Garland was born in Ilford, Essex and grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He starte ...

*2015: ''Return to the Fire'' (Edition)

References

Literature

* Richard Cook & Brian Morton: ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'', 8th Edition, London, Penguin, 2006, .

External links

Mick Hutton Quartet
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, Mick 1956 births Living people Avant-garde jazz double-bassists British jazz bass guitarists British composers Musicians from Chester ECM Records artists 21st-century British double-bassists Earthworks (band) members