Theo Travis

Notes

Theo Travis is one of the biggest names on the British Jazz scene. He tours constantly in the UK and is regularly heard on Jazz FM and BBC Radio. The Theo Travis Quartet has played seven separate weeks at Ronnie Scott's club, London, and recorded two BBC broadcasts. They performed two shows at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel in August 2000, which were broadcast on national TV and radio.

Theo Travis is active in an eclectic range of music. In 1999 he became a member of Daevid Allen's Gong as featured soloist and has since toured with them in Japan, Scandinavia, Europe, the UK and America including a sold out show at New York's Knitting Factory. He also co-wrote most of the group's album Zero to Infinity released in Feb 2000 and subsequently produced their live album Live to Infinitea, released in October 2000. Travis has also recently been recording and touring with experimental singer songwriter Anja Garbarek (daughter of Jan). This has included a broadcast on Radio 3's Mixing It (June 2001), and appearances at the Nice, Molde, and Bergen International Jazz Festivals. Theo Travis runs (with bassist

Dave Sturt) an experimental ambient/electronica band Cipher with whom he has written and performed ambient soundtracks to Hitchcock silent films and recorded the acclaimed album No Ordinary Man. In 2000 he formed the Berlin Vibe, an Anglo-German quartet with Roger Beaujolais (vibes) which toured the UK and has just recorded its debut CD, to be released shortly. He has also composed two scores for the Besht Tellers storytheatre company and toured with them in 1997 and 1999.
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In October 1998 the Theo Travis quartet undertook a 13-date tour of the Scottish Highlands and Islands, visiting five remote Scottish Islands including the first ever jazz gig on the tiny island of Iona. In 1997 Travis formed the cutting edge free improvising trio Marshall Travis Wood with internationally respected drummer John Marshall and left-field guitarist Mark Wood. The trio recorded an album Bodywork which has received rave reviews in journals across the UK, France, Germany and the USA. Travis has appeared on a one-hour interview on New York radio station WKCR-FM and been featured on three radio stations in Boston, USA.

Theo Travis received a degree (with honours) in music from the University of Manchester. Described as "One of the very best young tenor players of this or any jazz generation in Britain" (Digby Fairweather, Radio 2), for his second album View from the Edge, 33 Records was awarded an Arts Council of England grant in recognition of Theo's compositional skill and growing stature on the British scene. The album was subsequently voted Best British Jazz CD of 1994 by the Jazz on CD Critics/Readers poll. Travis's composition Lulworth Night from his third album Secret Island CD was on the Jazz FM playlist for three years. Theo has also worked with Tony Coe, John Etheridge, Mervyn Africa, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Mick Karn, Porcupine Tree, Steve Lodder and the late Slim Gaillard. He has also guested on over 30 albums.