Jason Yarde

Jason Yarde (born 1970) is an English jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, producer and music director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and music ensembles, including Denys Baptiste, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Jack DeJohnette, Hugh Masekela and the London Symphony Orchestra.^[1][2]

Jason Yarde
Born	1970 (age 54–55) Beckenham, England
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, arranger, producer, music director
Instrument	Saxophones
Formerly of	Jazz Warriors; Tomorrow's Warriors

Early life and education

Yarde was born in 1970 in Beckenham, England, to Guyanese parents.^[3] While still a teenager at school,^[4] he began playing alto and soprano saxophone with the Jazz Warriors, and went on to become their music director.^[5]

He studied at Middlesex University, obtaining a BA (Hons) in Performance Arts; the degree incorporated a year at William Paterson College, New Jersey, studying orchestration, studio engineering, jazz performance and saxophone under Joe Lovano, Gary Smulyan and Steve Wilson. ^[5]

Music career

Yarde was member of Anthony Tidd's Quite Sane band, which won the Capital Radio band of the year award in 1992.^[6] He has also been associated with Tomorrow's Warriors since it was started,^[7] including leading the J-Life quintet, featuring vocalist Julie Dexter.^[8][9]

In 2007, his work All Souls Seek Joy was premiered by Hugh Masekela and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre.^[10]

Yarde's BBC Proms composition Rhythm and Other Fascinations, for piano trio and the BBC Concert Orchestra, won the inaugural BASCA award for Contemporary Jazz Composition in 2009,^[11][12] with the judges describing his work as "innovative, accomplished and entertaining. It achieves that difficult double act of looking back in homage to a bye-gone era and at the same time, achieving a very contemporary vision."^[13]

In 2010, Yarde was a recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award, "the most generous arts prize in the UK".^[14]