Led by George Cooper, one of the UK's most inspiring jazz pianists, the Jazz Defenders is a band with a deep love of the early Blue Note era, drawing on a wealth of inspiration to craft their own vibrant compositions. Their new album is Scheming.
The hard bop recordings of Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan and Art Blakey were highly regarded for a reason - catchy horn lines and incredible musicianship combined with Rudy Van Gelder's engineering skills mean they will forever be regarded as classics of the genre. The Jazz Defenders are a group that defends the legacy of those recordings whilst creating its own original identity and distinction. The music they produce together is a modern soul jazz slant on this classic hard bop, effortlessly channeling the spirit of the golden Blue Note era of jazz.
The group's brainchild, pianist and composer George Cooper, has at a young age already amassed a comprehensive repertoire of musical credits including Hans Zimmer, Nigel Kennedy, U2, Omar, Slum Village, MF Doom, the Brand New Heavies, the Haggis Horns, Abstract Orchestra and Lack of Afro.
The Jazz Defenders are George Cooper on piano/keyboards, Will Harris on bass, drummer Ian Matthews, Nick Malcolm on trumpet, and Jake McMurchie on the tenor sax.