Ben Crosland brings his Ray Davies Songbook to the Langtoun to play with Scottish musicians for the 1st time. He will be joined by Malcom MacFarlane, Gordon McNeil, Alan Benzie and Tom Gordon.
Bass player, Ben, was commissioned to write the arrangements for his Ray Davies Songbook by Marsden Jazz Festival and has been playing it at various festivals since.
It has gone down very well with audiences who love The Kinks music and Ben is very much looking forward to presenting it for us.
Originally a guitarist and sometime drummer, Ben Crosland took up the bass in the late 70s when no one in the function band he was forming wanted to play it! He began to play jazz bass seriously when inspired by beginning a 10 year association with the Wavendon Summer Jazz Course in 1982 , firstly as a student soaking up the wisdom of the late, great Jeff Clyne and later assisting Jeff with the bass guitar students as an assistant tutor. In 1987, he became a member of the Huddersfield Jazz house band, working with Don Rendell, Ian Carr, Dick Morrissey, Bobby Wellins, Louis Stewart, Ronnie Ross and Bill Le Sage amongst many others....
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Ben Crosland brings his Ray Davies Songbook to the Langtoun to play with Scottish musicians for the 1st time. He will be joined by Malcom MacFarlane, Gordon McNeil, Alan Benzie and Tom Gordon.
Bass player, Ben, was commissioned to write the arrangements for his Ray Davies Songbook by Marsden Jazz Festival and has been playing it at various festivals since.
It has gone down very well with audiences who love The Kinks music and Ben is very much looking forward to presenting it for us.
Originally a guitarist and sometime drummer, Ben Crosland took up the bass in the late 70s when no one in the function band he was forming wanted to play it! He began to play jazz bass seriously when inspired by beginning a 10 year association with the Wavendon Summer Jazz Course in 1982 , firstly as a student soaking up the wisdom of the late, great Jeff Clyne and later assisting Jeff with the bass guitar students as an assistant tutor. In 1987, he became a member of the Huddersfield Jazz house band, working with Don Rendell, Ian Carr, Dick Morrissey, Bobby Wellins, Louis Stewart, Ronnie Ross and Bill Le Sage amongst many others.
In 1990, he formed his first group, a Quintet featuring guitarist Adrian Ingram and saxophonist Rod Mason. The band went on to record albums with Alan Skidmore (The Northern Run) and Steve Waterman (A Dales Day) during the 90s. Crosland also recorded an album with Ingram, Spread The Word, featuring Jim Mullen and Eryl Roberts, in 1996. In 2000, he formed an Octet featuring Skidmore, Waterman and Mark Nightingale which recorded an album, Echoes In The Valley, and toured nationally.
2000 was a busy year for Crosland: he also formed his first Quartet featuring Waterman, guitarist Stuart McCallum and drummer Dave Walsh. That band recorded two albums, Heartland and Last Flight Out, and toured nationally with Jazz Services support. In 2004, Ben formed Threeway, a chamber jazz trio, with Waterman and Steve Lodder. Threeway has recorded three albums, Conversations, Songs Of The Year and Looking Forward, Looking Back and continues to tour regularly.
In 2015, Crosland was commissioned by Marsden Jazz Festival to write a set of jazz arrangements of Ray Davies iconic songs. That commission led to the formation of his Ray Davies Songbook Quintet featuring Dave OHiggins, John Etheridge, Steve Lodder and Sebastiaan de Krom. The band has recorded two Volumes of the Songbook and continues to play at clubs and festivals across the country.
Ben has been associated with the Marsden Jazz Festival since its inception in 1992, presenting headlining concerts throughout that time featuring John Surman, Andy Sheppard, Tim Garland, Jim Hart and Dennis Rollins, amongst others. Together with Dave Tyas, he has been a member of the John Etheridge Trio North since 1999, touring annually across the north and recording the album Stitched Up in 2006. He leads a northern Quartet featuring Rod Mason, Jez Platt and Dave Tyas and also leads house bands at the Keys in Huddersfield and the Lantern in Halifax, promoting concerts featuring guests including Stan Sulzmann, Henry Lowther, Art Themen, Martin Shaw, Frank Ricotti, John Parricelli, Nikki Iles, Mike Walker, John Helliwell, Tony Kofi and Snake Davis.
You can bring your own nibbles and drinks but please also bring cups/glasses and utensils
If you want to sit with friends pleas book together
Doors open at 7.45 following the previous concert which finishes at 7.30pm
Why not book for both concerts - check out https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5357898
Covid guidelines in force at the time of the concert will apply
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