The E17 Large Ensemble are a 13-piece contemporary jazz group comprising five saxes, three trumpets, voice, guitar, piano and bass, and are on the forefront of the UK contemporary jazz scene. It was formed ten years ago as the flagship ensemble of the E17 collective, one of the most significant music collectives to emerge in recent years. All members of the ensemble are respected bandleaders in their own right, and many have contributed their own original compositions to the group. Outside of the group, the musicians have collaborated with a huge range of established European jazz artists, including Tim Garland, Han Bennink, Andy Sheppard, Ivo Neame (Phronesis), Jamie Cullum, Django Bates, Zoe Rahman, Gwilym Simcock, Gwyenth Herbert and many others. The Ensemble curated the first Walthamstow Jazz Festival in 2009 and commissioned a brand new work by the respected composer and pianist Liam Noble with financial assistance from Arts Council England. It continues to promote ambitious and forward-thinking projects – with the latest commission written by the renowned composer Hans Koller, and inspired by Turkish traditional music seen through the prism of a jazz composer, with inspiration from Gil Evans’s masterpiece, Sketches of Spain.

This gig marks the bands debut at Maud, and they will premiere a suite commissioned by PRSF and written especially for the occasion by the renowned saxophonist and composer Trish Clowes, inspired by many of the jazz bands that have performed there, including Count Basie, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (tbc) ‘There are always surprises… it makes the journey worth taking’ (LondonJazz News) Carlos Lopez Real, Josh Kemp, Rachel Musson, Tori Freestone, Mick Foster - saxes/flutes Robbie Robson, Tom Allan, Hugh Pascall - trumpets Brigitte Beraha - voice John Turville - piano, director Jez Franks - guitar Dave Manington - bass Nick Smalley - drums