Django Bates facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Django Bates
Background information
Birth name	Leon Bates
Born	(1960-10-02) 2 October 1960 (age 64) Beckenham, Kent, England
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, educator
Instruments	Piano, keyboards, tenor horn
Years active	1980s–present
Labels	EG, ECM, Lost Marble, Screwgun, JMT

Django Bates, born Leon Bates on October 2, 1960, is a super talented British jazz musician. He's a composer, plays many instruments, leads bands, and teaches music. Django plays the piano, keyboards, and a brass instrument called the tenor horn. People say he's one of Britain's most gifted musicians. His music explores all kinds of jazz, from old styles to modern jazz-rock fusion.

Besides his jazz work, he also writes classical music. He creates pieces for plays and has taught as a professor at different music schools in Europe. Django has led several bands, including Human Chain and Delightful Precipice. He was also a key member of famous groups like Loose Tubes and Bill Bruford's Earthworks.

Early Life and Music Journey

Django Bates was born in Beckenham, England. He went to Sedgehill School. While there, he also attended the Centre for Young Musicians in London from 1971 to 1977. He learned to play the trumpet, piano, and violin. Later, he studied at Morley College in 1977–78. In 1978, he started studying composition at the Royal College of Music but left after only two weeks.

Becoming a Jazz Star

Django Bates started his band, Human Chain, in 1979. In the 1980s, he became very well known in a jazz orchestra called Loose Tubes. In 1991, he formed a big 19-piece jazz orchestra named Delightful Precipice. He also put together the Powder Room Collapse Orchestra. This group recorded music for a project called Music for The Third Policeman. He also created Circus Umbilicus, which was a musical circus show.

Django has played with many other musicians and bands. These include Dudu Pukwana's Zila, Tim Whitehead's Borderline, and Bill Bruford's Earthworks. He has also performed with famous artists like Michael Brecker, Tim Berne, and David Sanborn.

Django Bates: The Composer

Django Bates

Django Bates has written many large music pieces when asked to. Some of his important works include:

• "Dream Kitchen" for percussionist Evelyn Glennie.
• "Fine Frenzy" for the Shobhana Jeyasingh Dance Company.
• "What It's Like to be Alive", a piano concerto for Joanna MacGregor and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
• "2000 Years Beyond UNDO", a concerto for electric keyboard. This was played at the millennium Barbican Festival.

Music for Theatre and More

Django Bates has worked closely with director Lucy Bailey on several theatre shows. These include Gobbledegook, Baby Doll, and Titus Andronicus. They also worked on a short film called You Can Run. Other theatre projects include As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2004, Django was the first artistic director of the FuseLeeds music festival. He used this chance to ask Jonny Greenwood from the band Radiohead to write his first orchestral piece. Django also asked sixty composers, including Laurie Anderson and John Zorn, to each write one bar of music. He then put these bars together to create "Premature Celebration." This piece was performed to celebrate Evan Parker's 60th birthday.

Teaching Music to Others

Django Bates loves to share his knowledge. In 2002, he was a tutor at the Banff Centre jazz program. In July 2005, he became a Professor of Rhythmic Music in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was also a visiting professor of jazz at the Royal Academy of Music in London starting in September 2010. In September 2011, he became a Professor of Jazz in Bern, Switzerland.

Awards and Recognitions

Django Bates has received many awards for his amazing music.

• The Wire magazine voted him Best UK Jazz Composer in 1987 and 1990.
• He won the Jazzpar Prize in 1997.
• He received The Ivors Jazz Award in 2019.

In 2008, he was nominated for the PRS New Music Award. He was also given a special fellowship by the Leeds College of Music in 1995.

Discography

Django Bates has released many albums as a leader and has played on many others as a sideman. Here are some of his main albums:

As Leader or Co-Leader

As Sideman (Playing with Others)

With Loose Tubes

• Loose Tubes (1985)
• Delightful Precipice (1986)
• Open Letter (1988)

With Bill Bruford's Earthworks

• Earthworks (1987)
• Dig? (1989)
• All Heaven Broke Loose (1991)

With Anouar Brahem

• Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)

With Sidsel Endresen

• So I Write (1990)
• Exile (1993)