Tom Ridout: Tenor/Soprano Saxophones, Recorders
Anastasia Stahlmann: Violin
Didier Osindero: Violin
Anita Kurowska: Viola
Cecilia Bignall: ‘Cello
Alex Ridout: Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Anna Drysdale: French Horn
Elliot Pooley: Trombone
Billy Marrows: Guitar
Nick Fitch: Guitar
Will Barry: Piano
Flo Moore: Bass
Rod Oughton: Drums
“ If you get a chance just go and see this band” – John Morrow – the Riff Magazine
Award winning saxophonist Tom Ridout was predicted by Jazzwise Magazine in 2012 as an upcoming jazz musician to watch out for and he is certainly proving the prediction correct! A recent graduate from the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, recent winner of the Lancaster Jazz Festival Youth Jazz Commission 2018 and a current member of NYJO (the National Youth Jazz Orchestra), Tom is a prolific composer who fronts his own bands playing his original compositions.
Tom has performed at many venues across the country including Ronnie Scotts (both with his own Quintet and NYJO), The 606, Barbican Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Buckingham Palace, Sage Theatre in Gateshead and many others. He is also on NYJO’s latest album, ‘NYJO Fifty’.
Last year, Tom released his debut album “No Excuses”, which features a 13 piece band including traditional jazz instrumentation with a string quartet and brass trio.
The No Excuses band is a 13 piece ensemble consisting of the Quintet (sax/recorder, guitar, piano, bass, drums) with added second guitar, string quartet and brass trio (flugelhorn, french horn and trombone). The music on this album represents Tom as composer, arranger, player and improviser. His influences come from a wide range of musical sources including; jazz, folk (English and otherwise), 60s rock/pop, early 20th century tonal classical and a plethora of other smaller influences that can be heard in the music this band plays.
“Their repertoire is rich in textures, complexity and virtuoso performances -you won’t be disappointed” – John Morrow – the Riff Magazine
The album had a fantastic launch at The Vortex Jazz Club, London to a sold out audience on Jan 2nd 2018. Tracks from the album have been played on Jazz FM many times, as well as on The Jazz Report, TNGC Radio, Sennhesier Sunday Jazz Session and Radio 3’s ‘Jazz Now’ show accompanying an interview with Tom. The album has a 4 star review inallaboutjazz.com, and Tom was featured in a 3 page interview in Recorder magazine in the Dec 2017/Jan 2018 issue; “His debut album is a fantastic showcase of the versatility of his writing, ability and imagination”.