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Ed Puddick became aware of the UAJO through his mentor and friend MichaelGibbs. He has been in contact with us for years and has already contributed some arrangementsto use at the annual BB workshop in Bad Goisern. Ed approached us inspring 2020 with the question whether we would have the desire and capacity to recordhis recent music live in a studio setting. He was primarily interested in the production
of music videos for promotion to an online audience but we produced this CD together.
The ‘Brexit Suite’, the central work of the recording session, was composed in
reaction to the events of the last 5 years, in which the UK decided to leave the EU.
Ed's journey from England to Upper Austria and back at the beginning of January 2021
was adventurous. Brexit had culminated just days before and situation with the Covid
pandemic was constantly changing, but in the end it all worked out and Ed, Reinhard
Brunner (sound man and coproducer), Bernhard See (Videographer) and we are happy
to have opened a new chapter of fabulous big band music.
Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra
In the 28th year of its existence, after 13 CD recordings with various programmes of its
own music (‘La lampe philosophique’, ‘Deference to Anton Bruckner’, ‘Thomas Bernhard
groovt’, ‘Wein , Weib und Gesang’, ‘Song-Song’, ‘Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum’,
‘In the spirit of Hans Koller’, ‘Brazilian World Music Project’) but also music by and
with guests such as Kenny Wheeler, Jack Walrath, Slide Hampton, Johnny Griffi n, Michael
Gibbs, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mike Stern, Maria Joao, Richard Bona, Mike Mainieri,
Richard Galliano and Jane Monheit, the UAJO has become an institution in the fi eld of
creative jazz music, not only in Upper Austria.
A special peculiarity in the design of new programmes is the concept of presenting the
orchestra musicians also as composers and arrangers. This results in programmes which
on one hand benefi t from the diversity of the musical approaches of several composers/
arrangers, but on the other hand are also characterised by the common experience of
28 years of continuity.
Ed Puddick – Composer, Arranger, Conductor
Ed Puddick is an award winning arranger, composer and educator. His reputation was established through his writing for the Ed Puddick Big Band, a 14-piece ensemble for which he has written a huge number of works, including the celebrated projects ‘Guys & Dolls’ (Diving Duck Recordings, 2010), ‘Jubilee Suite’ (2012) & ‘Only Thelonious’ (2017).
In 2018 Ed won the Arranging Prize in the International Composition Competition at the Barga International Jazz Festival, where his winning arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma” was performed by US trumpeter Jeremy Pelt.
Ed has written for many other groups, including the Bradfield College Big Band (featuring Alec Dankworth in 2015), the London Jazz Orchestra, Marlborough College Big Band and Chamber Orchestra, NYJO, National Youth Jazz Wales, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Jazz Orchestra and the Sydney Jazz Orchestra in Australia. Ed has enjoyed a long-term partnership with the Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra, for whom he has written works featuring international soloists James Morrison (“Saratoga Springs” 2011) and Eric Marienthal (“The Twisted Wheel” 2016).
Ed has been commissioned to write music for large-scale projects including ‘Secret Music’ (Music For Youth, 2014), ‘Near Horizons’ (Joe Allard Commission, 2015), ‘Another Kind Of Imagination’ (Greater Manchester Music Hub, 2016), ‘Beyond Wigan Pier’ (Alan Gregory, 2018), ‘One Universal Shout’ (Bridgewater Hall, 2019), ‘Music Hall Memories’ (Greater Manchester Music Hub, 2019), ‘Wild Man Dance’ (Charles Lloyd/Mike Gibbs, 2019) and ‘Soultime Suite’ (Paul Dunmall, 2019).
Ed teaches jazz composition and arranging at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he was a student between 2000-2004, studying trombone with Jeremy Price and composition with Mike Gibbs and Hans Koller. Ed currently sits on the IVORS Academy Jazz Committee and is dedicated to improving the situation for jazz composers across the UK.
Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra - OÖs Institution im orchestralen Jazz
Im 28. Jahr des Bestehens und nach 13 CD Einspielungen mit verschiedensten Programmen eigener Musik („La lampe philosophique“, „Deference to Anton Bruckner“, „Thomas Bernhard groovt“ ,“Wein , Weib und Gesang“, „Song-Song“, „Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum“, „In the spirit of Hans Koller“, Brazilian World Music Project“) aber auch Musik von und mit Gästen wie Kenny Wheeler, Jack Walrath, Slide Hampton, Johnny Griffin, Michael Gibbs, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mike Stern, Maria Joao, Richard Bona, Mike Mainieri, Richard Galliano und Jane Monheit hat sich das UAJO zu einer Institution auf dem Gebiet kreativer Jazzmusik, nicht nur in Oberösterreich, entwickelt.
Eine besondere Eigenheit in der Gestaltung neuer Programme ist das Konzept, die Musiker des Orchesters auch als Komponisten und Arrangeure zu präsentieren.
So entstehen Programme, die einerseits von der Vielfalt der musikalischen Zugangsweisen mehrerer Komponisten/Arrangeure profitieren, andererseits aber durch die gemeinsame Erfahrung einer 28 Jahre währenden Kontinuität geprägt sind.
