APRIL 2024 UPDATE
Bag Of Bones, aka:
Riley Stone-Lonergan - tenor saxophone
Rick Simpson - piano
Oli Hayhurst - double bass
Will Glaser - drums
are releasing our Debut Album ‘No One Gets Saved’ on the Brooklyn-based record label 577 Records. It contains four tunes by myself, two by Oli, one by Riley and one by Will. We are immensely proud of it and can’t wait to share it with you.
We are doing an album launch at our spiritual home The Vortex in London on May 10th. We will have CDs for sale.
You can pre-order the record here.
And here’s the first track, Oli Hayhurst’s ‘Onwards and Upwards’.
I’m also pleased that I have joined the incredible guitarist, improviser and wonderful human Mike De Souza’s band. Mike is an amazing musician and brilliant guitarist and improviser. His tunes are very fun to play, not to mention challenging. We are recording later this year and I am looking forward to getting stuck in with it all.
MAY 2023 UPDATE
Soweto Kinch released White Juju on vinyl, CD and digitally. I think its an astonishing work and I’m very happy to have been involved. We did a second performance with Greg Hutchinson, Nick Jurd and the London Symphony Orchestra/Lee Reynolds at Printworks back in March. One of the final concerts before the legendary venue closed its doors. Click here to listen
I have recorded a new album with my collaborative quartet with Riley Stone-Lonergan, Oli Hayhurst and Will Glaser. We are quite happy with it do keep an eye out for that release. They all sound wonderful.
Finally, on May 18th my new album is released. ‘Twice Shaded’ is my first solo release and also my first electronic release. Its an album of improvisations, stitched together and turned upside down. Alex Bonney helped produce it and also mixed and mastered it. Dave Smith and Michael Chillingworth contribute drums and alto saxophone for one tune.
Its a self release and I am very happy with how it turned out.
Here’s the link to the bandcamp
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
JULY 28th 2022 - the collaborative quartet I have with Riley Stone-Lonergan, Oli Hayhurst and Will Glaser will be doing two shows at the Vortex Jazz Club.
Tickets here: CLICK
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
UPDATE - its been a while since I’ve updated my website but happy to announce that on November 19th I’ll be performing at the Barbican Centre with Soweto Kinch and the LSO. Soweto has written a brilliant new work ‘White Juju’ which he’ll be perfoming with Greg Hutchinson, Nick Jurd, yours truly and the London Symphony Orchestra. Tickets here
I’ll be performing my arrangements of Radiohead at the Jazz Cafe, Camden on November 30th. Our last gig at Ronnie Scotts sold out and was an absolute blast. Don’t miss this!
LIVESTREAM! Feb 18th for the wonderful SoundCellar in Poole. I’ll be playing my new record but all solo piano, so expect some rearrangements and lots of improvising but all based on the wonderful music from Radiohead’s Kid A.
Details: CLICK
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Well, there’s no gigs for anyone with us in national lockdown again but I’m pleased to report that my latest album ‘Everything All Of The Time: Kid A Revisted’ has been very well received by the press and is selling well. Head to bandcamp to pick up the final remaining copies of the vinyl.
PRESS HIGHLIGHTS
"As with all good covers projects, Simpson's interpretations stray liberally from the originals."
Mojo Magazine
"Simpson’s energy on this recording is infectious... The arrangements are terrific, with the two frontline saxes bringing a welcome edge to the session."
★★★★ UK Vibe
"It takes music borne of difficulty, intensity and uncertainty, and replays it with spontaneous, natural exuberance."
ArtMuseLondon
"A brilliant mix of focussed energy and wild imagination."
★★★★ Jazzwise Magazine
"Simpson slots in some reflective piano emphasising just what a major, if perhaps slightly unsung, player he is on the UK scene."
Bebop Spoken Here
"Rick Simpson is one of the outstanding personalities on the UK contemporary jazz scene. He does not set any musical limits."
Jazz'halo
"Simpson and his band produce not simply a heartfelt homage but a genuinely stirring set of tunes in their own right."
Jazz Views
"Rick Simpson is as comfortable exploring tradition as he is fearlessly pushing its boundaries."
France Musique
“Rick Simpson has retained a predilection for music that grooves without forgetting jazz itself.”
Le Soufflé Bleu
It’s also been played on Radio 2 and 3, Editor’s Choice in the November Jazzwise Magazine and Presto Music’s Jazz Album of the month.
Cheers!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
First gigs in the diary again!
15th August - Leo Richardson Quartet, Southwark Cathedral
23rd August - Rick Simpson/Mick Coady/Gene Calderazzo - The Elderfield, Clapton 3:30pm
30th August - Rick Simpson/Mick Coady/Gene Calderazzo - The Elderfield, Clapton, 3:30pm
5th September - Rick Simpson/Adam King/Will Glaser - The Vortex, Private Trial gig, 8:30pm
16th September - Leo Richardson Quartet, The Spice of Life, Soho, London, 8:00pm
16th October - Jay Phelps Cuban Experience, The Jazz Cafe, Camden, 8:00pm
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT AND PRE-ORDER LINK!
October 23rd will see the release of my new record ‘Everything All of The Time: Kid A Revisited’. This is a celebration of 20 years since Radiohead released their masterpiece' ‘Kid A’ and a Jazz reimagining of the music, The album will be available on Vinyl, CD and all digital formats on Whirldwind Recordings.
It features:
Tori Freestone - tenor saxophone
James Allsopp - baritone saxophone
Dave Whitford - double bass
Will Glaser - drums
Rick Simpson - piano
PRE-ORDER HERE
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Next year starts with a bang - 4 dates in Spain with the Michael Janisch Band. Can’t wait! Check the gigs page for more details.
Then later in the year Andre Canniere’s band with Brigitte Beraha, Tori Freestone, Tom Farmer, Andrew Bain and I will tour Andre’s great new record ‘Ghost Days’. I loved recording this, it was the most breezy recording session I’ve ever done and I think the music came out great. Can’t wait to hear it. The record is coming out on Whirlwind records.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
On December 21st we are going to be following up the Radiohead gigs with my arrangements of Radiohead’s In Rainbows - this gig will feature Mike Chillingworth, Tori Freestone, Dave Whitford and Will Glaser. It will be at the Vortex in Dalston. As before we will have a listening party of the record before playing my arrangements.
On May 18th we performed a follow up to the Kid A gig, performing arrangements of Radiohead’s ‘Amnesiac’ at the Vortex, it was another sell out and a recording will be posted soon.
In other news, 2020 looks to be a busy spring with tours from Michael Janisch’s Quintet and also Andre Canniere’s ‘Darkening Blue’ Sextet. Can’t wait!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
On February 2nd myself, alongside James Allsopp, Tori Freestone, Will Glaser and Dave Whitford performed my arrangements of Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ to a sold out room at the Vortex in London, there’s a recording of that performance below
We plan of doing Amnesiac in the near future and hopefully playing the Kid A material in other venues in the future.
I’m also excited about being asked to do US bass hero Michael Janisch’s new band, alongside Nathaniel Facey, George Crowley and Shaney Forbes. These guys are all huge musical inspirations for me so I’m very looking forward to playing Mike’s music. We have a performance at Kings Place in London on September 27th.
Hello, World!