THE BAND
“A wild, muscular delight.”
- London Jazz News
FORJ is an exciting quartet led by drummer Jonathan Silk, featuring the critically acclaimed and long time friend and collaborator, Nick Jurd on double bass alongside the incredible musicianship of two of London’s finest improvisers, Joe Wright and Josh Arcoleo on tenor saxophones. This band promises high octane grooves and expansive improvisation across a whole series of original compositions.
“It was a joy to hear the interaction between Wright and Arcoleo”
- Tony Dudley-Evans
FORJ attempt to bridge the gap between chaos and purpose. With original compositions as a framework, the band move to reshape what the music is at every outing. With improvisation at the heart of the ensemble, every performance is a new experience.
Performing a rocky, but subtle, set of intricate grooves and diverse melodies, FORJ blur the lines between composition and improvisation in a highly interactive manner in this exciting chordless ensemble.
THE MUSICIANS
Joe Wright is an improvising musician and creative technologist working between Cardiff, Birmingham and London. As a performer, his work spans the UK jazz and experimental music scenes. Notably, he has worked with Rob Luft (Edition Records/P-Vine Records), AMM co-founder, Eddie Prevost, and co-founded the duo, Onin (FD / FLUF) with James L Malone. Joe also works alongside charities and arts organisations making accessible music technology and sensory performance work. In recent years he has collaborated on the critically acclaimed show, Sound Symphony (Independent Arts Projects), and worked as a creative technologist with Drake Music Labs (London) and the world-renowned theatre company, Oily Cart.
Josh Arcoleo is a highly in demand saxophonist on the London jazz scene. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2011 and is regularly seen performing with Stan Sulzmann’s big band, Jeff Williams, Dave Hamblett, Mike Chillingworth, Snowpoet and many more. He released his debut album Beginnings in 2012 to widespread acclaim. Awards include the Yamaha Jazz Scholarship, EMI Sound Music Foundation, MBF Young Talent and the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Award.
Nick Jurd is a double and electric bassist based in Birmingham and touring internationally.
He plays most regularly with Soweto Kinch, The Destroyers, FORJ and Meraki, and freelances regularly around the UK jazz scene. Past performance and recording highlights include playing with Ernest Ranglin, Paul Dunmall, Andrew D'Angelo, ESKA, Stan Sulzmann and Juice Aleem.
Jonathan Silk is a Scottish drummer and composer based in Birmingham. He has released two albums with his big band and string orchestra to critical acclaim and worked with world-renowned composers Vince Mendoza and Maria Schneider as well as a host of other nationally and internationally renowned musicians. Awards include BBC Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year and the Yamaha Jazz Scholarship Award.