Tim Whitehead (born 12 December 1950) is a British

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 ...

musician who plays soprano, alto and tenor

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

and flute.

Career

Whitehead played in a folk group during his school days. He then studied law at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, but gave up his work as a lawyer in 1976 to concentrate on music. Together with guitarist Glenn Cartledge, he led the quartet "South of the Border", which won the Young Jazz Musicians of the Year Award. In 1977 he toured Germany with

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus (band), Nucleus, and was an associate professor a ...

's "Nucleus"; the following year he toured with

Graham Collier James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz Double bass, bassist, bandleader and composer. Life and career Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as ...

. In 1980 he founded his quartet, Borderline, and led his own bands afterwards. Since 1984 he also belonged to the

Loose Tubes Loose Tubes were a British jazz big band/orchestra active during the mid-to-late 1980s. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the band was considered to be the focal point of a 1980s renaissance in British jazz. It was the main launchpad for the ...

, with whom he recorded the first three albums. In the 1990s, he played regularly with his band at

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 ...

, but also ran his own clubs and gave lessons. In 1995 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote that "Tim Whitehead's music is marked by a sense of grace and economy" with a "growing reputation as one of Britain's most thoughtful composers and improvisers." His album ''Personal Standards'' (1999), in which he dealt with classics of soul and pop music, was awarded Jazz Album of the Year in the ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

'' and led to a music education project at

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 ...

. Together with Colin Riley, he was awarded the

Peter Whittingham Award Help Musicians (formerly Musicians Benevolent Fund), is a United Kingdom charity offering help for musicians throughout their careers. History It was created by Victor Beigel in 1921 as the Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund, following the death of En ...

in 2000 for his compositions. In 2009 he was Artist in Residence at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

, (funded by an award from The

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

), which led to him producing the album "Colour Beginnings", with music transcribed from improvisations in front of and inspired by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

's watercolour sketches. He was commissioned by the

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Se ...

to compose "Turner And The Thames" for the 2013 and 2014 festivals. Together with Eddie Harvey he founded the Way Out West collective of musicians in 2004. He is father of the singer Hattie Whitehead, the actor

Fionn Whitehead Fionn Whitehead (; born 18 July 1997) is an English actor. He portrayed the lead role in the 2017 film ''Dunkirk'' and the 2018 film '' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch''. His first acting credit was in the 2016 ITV miniseries '' Him''. Life Whitehe ...

, and the performer Maisie Whitehead.

Discography

*''English People: The Subterranean Life At Richmond Lock And Other Locations'' (1982). Tim Whitehead's Borderline *''Decision'' (1988). The Tim Whitehead Band *''Authentic'' (1991). Tim Whitehead (with

Pete Jacobsen Pete Jacobsen (16 May 1950 – 29 April 2002),
Retrieved 5 December 2011. also known as Peter Jacobsen, was an English ...

, Arnie Somogyi and Dave Barry). Ronnie Scott's Jazz House *''Silence Between Waves'' (1994). Tim Whitehead (with Pete Jacobsen, Arnie Somogyi and Dave Barry) *''Personal Standards'' (1999). Tim Whitehead. Home Made HMR047 *''Lucky Boys'' (2002). Tim Whitehead & Giovanni Mirabassi Quartet *''Tides'' (2003). Colin Riley, Tim Whitehead. The HomeMade Orchestra. Homemade WHMR0048 *''Inside Covers'' (2004). The HomeMade Orchestra (Colin Riley, Tim Whitehead and guests). Homemade HMR049 *''Too Young to Go Steady'' (2007). Tim Whitehead (with Liam Noble, Milo Fell and Oli Hayhurst) *''Colour Beginnings'' (2010). Tim Whitehead. HomeMade HMR 052 *''Seventh Daze'' (2012). Kwartet (Tim Whitehead, Tony Woods, Milo Fell, Patrick Bettison). Home Made Records HMR 053 With

* ''

'' (1985) * ''Delightful Precipice'' (1986) * ''

Open Letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

'' (1988)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Tim 1950 births Living people 20th-century British jazz composers Alumni of the University of Manchester British male jazz musicians British male saxophonists Loose Tubes members Musicians from Liverpool Nucleus (band) members