JAZZ at the ELEPHANT

“Whitehead has a highly personal, always gorgeous sound on tenor and an infinite vocabulary – in a country of fine saxophonists he is one of the finest.” Birmingham Post

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Tim Whitehead was born in Liverpool , the son of one of the original writers of Dennis the Menace in the children’s comic, The Beano. His first public performance was as solo clarinettist in his school orchestra’s rendition of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, conducted by his fellow pupil Sir Simon Rattle.

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During his career, Tim has played extensively throughout the UK and Europe, and more recently in the USA with American pianist Phil DeGreg. In the 70s he toured with Ian Carr’s Nucleus and Graham Collier Music and won the Young Jazz Musicians of the Year Award with his own band South of the Border in 1977.

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“There are many fine tenor players on the current British scene but Tim Whitehead is undoubtedly one of the best we have” Crescendo

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In the 80’s he was a member of the groundbreaking big band Loose Tubes, and continued to develop his own music, recording for Spotlite Records and Editions EG.

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Since then his countless acclaimed performances and recordings including work with Colin Riley, Gwilym Silcock, Liam Noble, and Children's Poetry Laureate Michael Rosen. In 2009 he was the first ever musician Artist in Residence at Tate Britain (funded by an award from The Leverhulme Trust), to research and compose music in response to the work of JMW Turner. During the residency he wrote ‘Colour Beginnings’, a series of compositions written from transcribed improvisations performed in front of and in response to a selection of JMW Turner‘s watercolour sketches.

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“He is a prodigious tenor player whose graceful compositions always rise above the mere technicalities of the conservatoire... Amid the crowd of anonymous, garrulous and hard-edged tenor saxophonists, Tim Whitehead's music is marked by a sense of grace and economy.” The Times