Tom Ollendorff & Aaron Parks Masterclass

Tickets £10 - £12, can be bought via the eventbrite website.

Guitarist Tom Ollendorff  will be collaborating with one of the worlds great jazz pianists Aaron Parks this March for his European tour to celebrate the release of his critically acclaimed album 'Open House'. 

This masterclass is the only event of its kind during their tour, and is a unique opportunity to gain an insight into the world of jazz improvisation composition and rhythmic development. 

Aaron and Tom will begin the session with a short performance followed by questions from the audience. 

Select press:

'Meticulous Eloquence' (The Guardian)

'Ambitiously conceived and perfectly realised. Tom Ollendorff is making his quiet way towards ubiquity' (Jazzwise) 

‘A must listen to album, especially for those who like contemporary guitarists’ (Jazzlife Japan) 

A highly recommendable record for those who care about the fate of jazz guitar (Musica Jazz)

Tom Ollendorff:

Tom Ollendorff is fast becoming one of the best-known young guitarists to emerge on the international jazz scene. A graduate from the Royal Welsh College of Music in Cardiff, he was awarded the Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz Scholarship in 2016.

Tom's debut album 'A Song For You' was released on Fresh Sound Records in May 2021 and received international acclaim and helped to launch an international touring career that has seen Tom perform at many of Europe’s best known Jazz clubs.

His latest album Open House was released in May 2023 and sees a continuation of his work with his long-term trio featuring Marc Michel on drums and Conor Chaplin on bass, with the addition of the critically acclaimed saxophonist Ben Wendel on four tracks. The recent release has received global recognition and has seen Tom continue to build his international reputation and following.

Tom is known for his highly distinctive sound which blends virtuosic technique, sophisticated harmonic concepts with nuance and sensitivity and in October 2022 he published his first works for solo guitar with Faber Music. The book, titled ‘Etudes’ has been sold across Europe, Asia, Australasia, and North America.

Aaron Parks:

Pianist Aaron Parks released his Blue Note debut Invisible Cinema at the age of 25 following three Blue Note releases with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. The BBC declared it “one of the great albums of 2008.” JazzTimes has hailed him as “a new visionary.” The San Jose Mercury News named his Alive in Japan release as their 2013 Top Jazz Album of the year. He has released two albums on ECM including a solo piano recording and a trio record featuring Billy Hart and Ben Street.

Parks has performed and recorded with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dhafer Youssef, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Kendrick Scott, and Marcus Miller among others. He is also a founding member of James Farm with Joshua Redman, Matt Penman and Eric Harland.