Jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards first came to national attention when he formed the modern jazz group SPIRIT LEVEL in 1979, a band which toured in almost every European country, playing opposite names such as Joe Henderson, Miles Davis and Horace Silver. In 1999 the band expanded into the nine-piece GREAT SPIRIT, performing and recording with some of London’s best jazz musicians such as Pete King, Dick Pearce, Tony Kofi and Ed Jones. A few years later this transformed into the six-piece HEXTET, whose 2015 album ‘Telegraph Hill’ was described in The Observer as “A joy from beginning to end”.
Tim recently released his fourth TRIO album ‘Four Aces’, selected on the Jazzviews website as “One of the best albums of 2025”. He is also well-known as one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, and the author of eight books including ‘Improvising Blues Piano’, published by Schott Music in 1997 to universal acclaim. Blues is a subject close to his heart, and he has also played, toured and recorded with award-winning British blues musicians Otis Grand and Dana Gillespie and US guitarists Larry Garner and Joe Louis Walker.
“Exuberantly swinging… gospel-tinged bop, freshly served.” JAZZWISE Magazine
Tim will be accompanied by Tom Lyne on Double Bass and Tom Bancroft on drums
Tom Lyne
Tom is a leading figure on the Scottish jazz scene with an impressively diverse portfolio featuring double and electric bass, studio production and sound design, and composition and arrangement. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Lyne, who played violin at the age of three and went on to study double bass at McGill University in Montreal, has been living in Scotland since 1998.
He has played with the country’s leading jazz artists such as Dave Milligan, Brian Kellock, Tom Bancroft and Kevin MacKenzie. Lyne’s new solo album ‘Well Mixed Blue’ is a celebration of his longstanding musical partnership with pianist Dave Milligan, which is built on the strong, intuitive chemistry between the two men as well as their strengths as individuals.
Tom Bancroft
Tom Bancroft is a drummer, bodhran player, composer and educator who has played with musicians ranging from Sun Ra, Bill Wells & Martyn Bennett to Geri Allen and the Playtime collective, which has played live for 12 years in a venue in Edinburgh. Playtime also makes podcasts about the Scottish scene and streams video concerts online.
Tom composes for and leads the occasional big band Orchestra Interrupto, In Common - merging Indian and Scottish music and the group Motion and Me with his twin brother and three leading young musicians from the Scottish Scene. Tom is a jazz musician who has extensive experience of working with musicians from other traditions and cultures, including Scottish and Irish traditional music, and traditional and creative musicians from India, Ghana, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Tom used to run the record label Caber Music,which released 40 albums of Scottish Jazz between 1999 and 2004, and now runs ABC Creative Music with his twin brother Phil, developing creative music education resources for schools. He is drum tutor at Edinburgh Napier University and plays the bodhran in a unique way!
Tom has recently finished a PhD on improvisation, creativity and pedagogy.
This performance is part of Eileen Hunter’s Jazz Afternoon at The Harbour Chapel.