Time Is Of The Essence

Tuesday 19th November 2024

The Spin welcomes back Oxford’s deep-groove-meisters, Time Is Of The Essence for their annual outing to the club!

The band is fronted by the brilliant saxophonist Ollie Weston. Ollie has been professionally in the company of such A-listers as Amy Winehouse, Bonobos, Jamie Cullum, The London Jazz Orchestra, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra etc.. and he is currently touring extensively with the ‘Joni Mitchell band’, Hejira.

Also fundamental to Hejira’s sound – and to Time Is Of The Essence’s – is drummer Rick Finlay! Rick’s expansive career has seen him touring and/or recording with Sinead O’Connor, Des O’Connor, (and any number of other O’Connors!), Barbara Dickson, and all of the British jazz names one could muster up!

On the organ, playing multiple roles of bass player, chordal accompanist and soloist is the ever-inventive Martin Pickett! Martin is a well-loved musician having accompanied so many of the UK’s jazz glitterati, including sax gurus, Bobby Wellins, Art Themen, Julian Siegel and Alan Barnes.

Completing the quartet is The Spin’s own Pete Oxley on guitars. You know about Pete, right??? – creator and bandleader of Hejira, composer of some note (or even, of some notes!): Pete is one of only a handful of British composers to be published in the world-famous Sher Real Books! He has produced 17 albums of critically acclaimed original works and has performed with such A-Listers as Paul McCandless, Nigel Kennedy and Randy Brecker.

But about the band itself:

They produce wide-ranging  original pieces (“finely honed, instantly appealing and right up there with any contemporary jazz writing…” ~ The Guardian) and feisty fare by the likes of Steely Dan, John Scofield and Michael Brecker. The Observer wrote of them that their gigs “…succeed in both edifying and entertaining their audiences”.