Jazz
Jazz 2/Big Band
The flagship YMM Big Band has been performing challenging classic Big Band repertoire for more than 25 years. Students also focus on developing their improvising skills and advanced jazz harmony. There are many opportunities for public performances during the year: past events have included travelling to Helsinki as part of a Big Band exchange and taking part in workshops with top UK jazz musicians, such as Mark Lockheart, Jasper Hoiby and Nerija.
Teachers
Reuben Fowler
Reuben Fowler
Reuben Fowler is a 27 year old jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and teacher based in London. He is currently the trumpet player for Paloma Faith and Culture Club, and has also performed with an array of artists including Noel Gallagher and Texas. As a result he has performed at some of the most coveted venues and festivals worldwide including the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, The Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles), the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Glastonbury and the North Sea Jazz Festival. Reuben has also worked extensively as a session musician and his performing credits include the BBC Big Band. Worldwide, he has played on broadcasts including: Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny, The Jimmy Kimmel Show, The Jonathan Ross Show, Alan Carr Chatty Man, Taratata, and Live at the Palladium.
Reuben Fowler graduated in 2012 from the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Kenny Wheeler Award for composition and performance and the Musicians Benevolent Peter Whittingham Award. He also won the John Baker Memorial Award for brass.
Following the online success of the Facebook page Trumpet Tuesday; which is co- managed by Reuben alongside two other Royal Academy of Music alumni, he was asked to lead a group masterclass for the jazz and classical brass students at his alma- mater in 2016. Prior to this, he had also taught the Jazz Ensemble at the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.
In 2013 Reuben Fowler wrote and arranged, rehearsed and recorded his own big band as part of a trans-atlantic recording project called Between Shadows, featuring jazz legends Tom Harrell, Stan Sulzmann and Jim Hart. The project later resulted in Fowler being cited: "...maybe the most exciting and accomplished trumpeter to emerge on the British Jazz scene.."