Line-up:
Tony Kofi – Alto saxophone
Larry Bartley – Double bass
Rod Youngs – Drums
Together they perform the music of one of jazz’s most distinctive original voices in a trio format with no written scores. Tony Kofi’s Sphinx Trio Pay homage to the music of Ornette Coleman. Coleman defined harmolodics as “the use of the physical and the mental of one’s own logic made into an expression of sound to bring about the musical sensation of unison executed by a single person or with a group” The Sphinx Trio played its debut at the Vortex on 12th February 2016 to a sold out audience playing many of Coleman’s classics
TONY KOFI was born in Nottingham to West African parents. A self-taught musician, he came to London in the early ’90s. Tony has worked and recorded with the David Murray Big Band, Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop, the Jazz Warriors, Eddie Henderson, Manu Dibango, Dr Lonnie Smith, Billy Higgins and US-3 and the Roy Ayers Big Band,Andrew Hill’s American-Anglo Big Band, Sam Rivers Rivbea Big band, the Julian Joseph Big Band, Byron Wallen’s Indigo, Grand Union Orchestra, the African All-Stars and Claude Deppa’s AJE. He has studied with Billy Pierce and Donald Byrd, The World saxophone Quartet, Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya, Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Coltrane Configurations and a recorded album led by Jamaaladeen Tacuma featuring Ornette Coleman entitled For the love of Ornette.
LARRY BARTLEY has become one of the most sought after bass players on the London jazz scene. He studied at Goldsmith College from 1988 – 1991 with Howard Riley and Laurence Couty giving him a wide and open outlook to the music scene. Larry Bartley’s presence can be felt through his identifiable sound and through his deep commitment to music.
He has worked with bands led by Courtney Pine, Jean Toussaint, Denys Baptiste, Cleveland Watkiss, Byron Wallen ,Steve Williamson, Julian Joseph, Andy Sheppard, Soweto Kinch, Juliet Roberts, Alex Wilson and Robert Mitchellas well as backing visiting musicians such as Stanley Turrentine and Steve Grossman. Larry Bartley has also on the stage of the Royal Opera House with dancer Sharon Wrey’s.
Bartley’s playing is featured on many recordings by some of London’s best-known jazz players.
ROD YOUNGS, originally from Washington DC & now resident in London, has been heard with the late Gil Scott Heron, Gary Crosby, Jon Hendricks and the late Abram Wilson among others. Not just a musician, Youngs is also a composer and educator of immense talent and refinement. His interest in music began in his youth and has spawned into a career that has spanned over two decades and taken him to over thirty countries.
Instructions for audience members – please read
Welcome back to the Vortex. Please note that we’ve implemented the following changes to our systems to make the club as Covid-safe as we can:
- Please buy tickets in advance as there will be no door sales. There will be twenty tickets only onsale for each gig.
- If you want to sit together as a household/bubble we would ask that one person books all the tickets for the group. If you book separately you may be seated separately.
- We ask you not to attend gigs if you have or think you may have any Covid-19 symptoms.
- We will ask you on entry to provide contact details for NHS Test and Trace. If possible please bring your own pen to write down the details.
- There will be no standing at gigs. Everyone who books a ticket will be allocated a seat, but we cannot guarantee that you will have a table.
- Orders for drinks and snacks will be taken at tables ONLY via the Butlr app. We are sorry but for the time being no hot drinks will be available.
- We ask that everyone wears a mask when moving around inside the building.
- We are cashless – we accept contactless payments only, and all drinks can only be purchased through the Butlr app
- We ask everyone to observe social distancing at all times. One metre social distancing will operate in the club space, with mitigations as detailed in the risk assessment which is available on the website.
- Automatic hand sanitiser stations are provided at various places within the building and we encourage regular use of hand sanitiser.