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 famous British jazz musician. He is also a composer, plays many instruments, leads bands, and teaches music. Django plays the piano, keyboards, and the tenor horn. People say he is one of the most talented musicians from Britain. His music covers many types of jazz, from old styles to modern jazz-rock fusion.

Besides jazz, he writes classical music and music for theatre shows. He has also taught as a professor at music schools in Europe. Django has led several bands like Human Chain and Delightful Precipice. He was also a key member of popular groups like Loose Tubes and Bill Bruford's Earthworks.

Early Life and Learning Music

Django Bates was born in Beckenham, Kent, England. He went to Sedgehill School. While there, he also studied at 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 and briefly at the Royal College of Music to learn composition.

A Star in Jazz Music

Django Bates started his band, Human Chain, in 1979. In the 1980s, he became very well known with a big jazz orchestra called Loose Tubes. In 1991, he formed another large jazz orchestra, the 19-piece Delightful Precipice.

He also put together the Powder Room Collapse Orchestra. This group recorded music for a show called Music for The Third Policeman. Django also created a musical circus show called Circus Umbilicus. He has played with many other great musicians and bands. These include Bill Bruford's Earthworks, Michael Brecker, and David Sanborn.

Composing Amazing Music

Django Bates

Django Bates has written many large pieces of music when asked to do so. These are called commissions. Some of his notable works include:

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

Django has also worked on music for many theatre shows with director Lucy Bailey. These include plays like Baby Doll and Titus Andronicus. He also worked on a short film called You Can Run.

In 2004, he 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 to each write one bar of music. He then put these bars together to create a piece called "Premature Celebration".

Teaching Future Musicians

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

Awards and Special Honours

Django Bates has received several awards for his musical talents.

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

In 1995, he was given a special fellowship by the Leeds College of Music.

Main Albums

Django Bates has released many albums as a leader or co-leader. Here are some of them: