Byron Wallen

Byron Wallen is ‘one of the most innovative, exciting and original trumpet players alive’ - Jazzwise Magazine. He has been playing, live and on record, alongside legendary musicians such as George Benson, Andrew Hill, Chaka Khan, Hugh Masekela, Courtney Pine, Mulatu Astatke, Red Snapper, Jack Dejohnette, Cleveland Watkiss and King Sunny Ade. In 1992, Wallen formed Sound Advice touring the UK, Syria, Czech Republic and appearing at the North Sea Jazz Festival. Wallen is an acclaimed writer and producer whose original scores have been commissioned by the Science Museum, PRS, BBC, Jerwood Foundation, Southbank Centre, National Theatre, Arts Council, FIFA and Sage Gateshead. He has also created soundscapes for Universal Pictures, Warner Bros and Game of Thrones. His compositions include Live, with Sheron Wray's dance company, Langston Hughes Suite, The Trumpet Kings, and Tarot Suite, an extended work of 22 movements, written for a 10-piece band. In 2003, Wallen won the BBC's Innovation in Jazz award for his third album Indigo. For his fourth album, Meeting Ground (2007), featuring Gnawa master musician Boujemma Boubul, he received nominations for Best Band and Best Album in the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards and Best Jazz Act in the 2007 MOBO Awards. In 2017, Wallen received the coveted Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists. Byron Wallen’s Four Corners' album PORTRAIT (2020) received critical acclaim, the band was nominated for Jazz Ensemble of the Year for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2020.