Ben crossland quartet
Free Event
BEN CROSLAND QUARTET
Rod Mason – saxophones and flute
Dean Stockdale – piano
Ben Crosland – bass
Dave Tyas - drums
Ben Crosland is one of the North’s most experienced jazz musicians, having been leading bands for over 30 years. He has worked as a sideman with many leading US and UK soloists including Jean Toussaint, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen, George Masso, John Surman, Henry Lowther, Stan Sulzman, Frank Ricotti and John Etheridge.
In 2006, Brian Bicat, then the much loved promoter of Jazz at the Priestley in Bradford, invited Crosland to form a new Quartet. The original line up featured Rod Mason, Jamil Sherrif and Dave Tyas. 2026, accordingly, represents the 20th anniversary of the band’s formation. Over the years, the piano chair has been occupied, apart from Jamil, by Paul Kilvington, Jeremy Platt and, since 2021, by Dean Stockdale. Rod and Dave have been ever present in the band.
To celebrate this milestone, Ben has written a new set of pieces, Wooltown Reflections, which reflect his various connections with the wool city over many years. The band has recorded these pieces with trumpet star Steve Waterman as special guest, together with two compositions by Waterman and one piece by Don Grolnick and the resultant album, its first, will be launched in May 2026 at its appearance at JATPjazz
Each member of the band is a leader in his own right and this relaxed joining of kindred spirits produces an open, mature and energetic performance in which there are no conflicting egos, only a desire to enjoy each other’s company, play good music and entertain.
Website www.jazz-cat.com
PRESS
‘An unaffectedly lyrical composer of direct and evocative melodies that draw in the uninitiated and jazz cognoscenti alike’
John Fordham, London Jazz News
‘Excellent northern bassist/bandleader’
The Guardian
‘Fluid and inventive contemporary bassist’
The Independent
‘His compositions are colourful, beguiling and thoroughly musical’
Mark Gilbert, Jazz Journal
‘The Crosland Quartet didn’t just hit the deck running, they cracked a few Olympic records in the process…I could go on and on waxing eloquently about this gig but I think by now you’ll have got the message that it was something special’.
Lance Liddle, Bebop Spoken Here