Biography
Born in 1974 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, Fairhurst first approached the piano at fifteen and quickly revealed an advanced command of the instrument. As a pianist and composer of rare ability, he drew notable critical notice during the mid-nineties after a saxophone quartet of his own making was placed on the shortlist for the Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize; around the same time he received the Pat Smythe Award for Young Jazz Musicians Of Outstanding Talent. In 1994 he performed at Ronnie Scott’s club in London alongside Iain Ballamy, the saxophonist who later featured on Fairhurst’s first album. A scholarship brought him to the New School in New York City for several months in 1996, where he broadened both his technique and his compositional range.
His partnership with drummer Tim Giles led to a duo appearance in 1997 at the 3rd European Tournament of Improvisation in Poitiers, France. Shortly after the 1994 Ronnie Scott’s engagement, Fairhurst assembled the quartet he called Hungry Ants. The group traveled to Senegal’s St. Louis Jazz Festival in 1997 under British Council sponsorship, recording there and conducting student workshops at the Conservatoire in Dakar; in the wake of that visit Fairhurst worked again with the British Council to supply instruments and equipment to local students.
Commissions in the late nineties included a piece for the Leicestershire Schools Symphonic Wind Band and Contemporary Dance Group that reached the 1997 Edinburgh Festival and returned the following year at Manchester’s Opera Theatre. He also supplied new scores for the restored 1920s silent films Rain and Manhattan, presented in April 1999 by Phoenix Arts in Leicester; on that occasion the Hungry Ants were augmented by Chris Batchelor on trumpet and Stuart Hall on violin and guitar. Further collaborations have involved saxophonists Osian Roberts and James Allsopp as well as bassist Steve Watts. The quartet has appeared at the Glasgow Jazz Festival, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and additional dates in Cologne, Belfast, and numerous British venues.
In 1999 Fairhurst was designated a Steinway International Artist, becoming one of the youngest pianists on that roster and only the second British jazz pianist so recognized. He stands among just three composers granted New Works commissions by Birmingham Jazz. Theatre work includes solo piano performances of music composed by Huw Warren for a production of Take The Fire at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. His suite, preserved on the album Standing Tall, earned a nomination for Best Work at the 2004 BBC Jazz Awards. Imaginative and fluent, Fairhurst continues to develop as a musical force whose repertoire reflects a broad awareness of current directions in jazz.
His partnership with drummer Tim Giles led to a duo appearance in 1997 at the 3rd European Tournament of Improvisation in Poitiers, France. Shortly after the 1994 Ronnie Scott’s engagement, Fairhurst assembled the quartet he called Hungry Ants. The group traveled to Senegal’s St. Louis Jazz Festival in 1997 under British Council sponsorship, recording there and conducting student workshops at the Conservatoire in Dakar; in the wake of that visit Fairhurst worked again with the British Council to supply instruments and equipment to local students.
Commissions in the late nineties included a piece for the Leicestershire Schools Symphonic Wind Band and Contemporary Dance Group that reached the 1997 Edinburgh Festival and returned the following year at Manchester’s Opera Theatre. He also supplied new scores for the restored 1920s silent films Rain and Manhattan, presented in April 1999 by Phoenix Arts in Leicester; on that occasion the Hungry Ants were augmented by Chris Batchelor on trumpet and Stuart Hall on violin and guitar. Further collaborations have involved saxophonists Osian Roberts and James Allsopp as well as bassist Steve Watts. The quartet has appeared at the Glasgow Jazz Festival, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and additional dates in Cologne, Belfast, and numerous British venues.
In 1999 Fairhurst was designated a Steinway International Artist, becoming one of the youngest pianists on that roster and only the second British jazz pianist so recognized. He stands among just three composers granted New Works commissions by Birmingham Jazz. Theatre work includes solo piano performances of music composed by Huw Warren for a production of Take The Fire at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. His suite, preserved on the album Standing Tall, earned a nomination for Best Work at the 2004 BBC Jazz Awards. Imaginative and fluent, Fairhurst continues to develop as a musical force whose repertoire reflects a broad awareness of current directions in jazz.
Albums
Singles
