Serious

Last night two Serious artists, Jason Yarde and John Surman, gained recognition at the 2009 British Composer Awards in a ceremony hosted by BASCA (British Academy of Songwriters, Composer and Authors) at the Law Society London.

The event gave special focus to the new Award for Contemporary Jazz Composition which was won by composer/saxophonist Yarde for his BBC Prom commission, Rhythm and Other Fascinations. The judges hailed his work as “innovative, accomplished and entertaining” achieving that difficult double act of looking back in homage to a bye-gone era and at the same time achieving a contemporary vision. The advent of Jazz as a new awards category was also celebrated by Scottish Jazz Quartet, Brass Jaw, who were here in London just a week ago performing a marathon of gigs across the capital as part of the London Jazz Festival’s Festival on the Move. Last night’s performance included two new works commissioned by BBC Radio 3 from jazz legend John Surman, especially for the occasion. John Surman, who recently celebrated his 65^th birthday with the London Jazz Festival, was at the Awards to acknowledge the two world premieres.

Read the full press release here

The awards will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Performance on 3 on Wednesday 2 December at 7pm.