Tune Up - Music Touring Across Scotland

Tune up: Denys Baptiste

A powerful figure in the new generation of British Jazz, blending funky jazz grooves with hiphop and acoustic fusion

This tour is a special event inspired by Dr Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, with the poetry of author and social commentator Ben Okri. The ambitious and hugely successful Let Freedom Ring! was commissioned originally by the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and has wowed audiences at its few performances to date in England. The suite is divided into four parts with Latin, gospel, blues, funk and free jazz forming the basis of alternate numbers. Okri's poetry forms solos along with violin, piano, saxophone, trumpet and guitar.

Born in London to St Lucian parents, Denys Baptiste is widely recognised as 'an icon for British Jazz'.

After studying at the London Guildhall School of Music, Denys joined the London Jazz Circuit. He was subsequently spotted by Gary Crosby who invited him to join Nu Troop. This was a turning point for the development of Denys' distinctive and recognizable sound that has seen him work as a soloist with major artists such as McCoy Tyner, Ernest Ranglin, Courtney Pine and Manu di Bangu among many others.

He is a talented composer and arranger whose roots are steeped in the jazz tradition but incorporate other musical forms and popular culture.

His success in the UK has led to greater international heights and he has recently completed a tour that visited France, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Caribbean, Zimbabwe and New Zealand.

Now widely regarded as one of the leading lights of British jazz, Denys has won a number of music industry awards including the MOBO Award for Best Jazz Act as well as the much coveted Mercury Music Prize for Album of the Year.