Dennis Rollins
Dennis Rollins | |
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![]() Rollins in concert, 17 April 2008 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Dennis George Rollins |
Born | 1964 |
Origin | Doncaster, England |
Genres | Jazz, pop, jazz-funk |
Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, record producer |
Instruments | Trombone |
Years active | c. 1984 - present |
Labels | Motéma Music |
Associated acts | BadBone and Co Boneyard Gorillaz Spacemonkeyz |
Website | http://www.dennisrollins.com/ Dennis Rollins.com |
Dennis Rollins (born 1964) is an English jazz trombonist, the founder and bandleader of BadBone and Co.
Early life and career[]
Dennis George Rollins was born in Birmingham, England, of Jamaican parents, and raised in Bentley, Doncaster, where he attended Don Valley High School. When he was 14 years old, he joined The Doncaster Youth Jazz Association, with which he studied and performed for some years[1] before moving to London in 1987.
Rollins has recorded, performed, and toured with a host of musicians and bands in jazz and pop, including Courtney Pine,[2] and Maceo Parker,.[3]
In 1995 he formed his own jazz-funk band, Dee Roe, with which he performed at such venues as the Jazz Café, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the London Forum, and Brixton Academy.
In 2000 he again formed a band, the quintet Dennis Rollins' BadBone and Co., launched at the Barbican Centre in March of that year, again specialising in funk-inflected jazz.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Dennis_Rollins.jpg/220px-Dennis_Rollins.jpg)
In 2005 he formed Boneyard, an ensemble featuring 10 trombones, sousaphone (or "sousabone"), and drums; this band performed a series of live gigs throughout the U.K. that summer as well as a performance on BBC Radio 3. Boneyard featured the British jazz trombonists , Matt Colman, , , , Harry Brown, and , with on sousaphone.[4]
Current band members of Badbone&co are: Jay Phelps on trumpet, Johnny Heyes on guitars, Courtney Thomas on bass, Ross Stanley on keys and Jack Pollit on drums.
Rollins is an artist/clinician for Michael Rath Trombones.[5] His personal instrument is a yellow brass/nickel silver Rath R3.
In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours list Rollins was awarded an MBE for services to music.[6]
Recordings (as leader)[]
- 2000: Wild & Free (E.P.)
- 2001: BadBone
- 2003: Make Your Move
- 2006: Big Night Out
References[]
- ^ Bowers, Jack (1 December 1999). "Have You Heard . . . The Doncaster Jazz Orchestra . . . and Friends: DYJA". All About Jazz. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ Astarita, Glenn. "BadBone: Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ "Maceo Parker with his band, featuring Ben Rollins - Cheltenham Jazz Festival". Jazzwise. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ Derrick, Andy. "Boneyard". Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Dennis Rollins". rathtrombones. com. Michael Rath Trombones. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Jazz musicians recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours", Jazz FM, 10 June 2018.
Literature[]
- John Chilton, Who's Who of British Jazz, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, ISBN 0-8264-7234-6
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dennis Rollins. |
- Dennis Rollins Official website
- Myspace page
- Kevin LeGendre, "Funk Is the Preacher, Jazz Is the Teacher", Jazzwise 97, May 2006, pp. 24–28)
- 1964 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands
- English jazz trombonists
- Male trombonists
- 21st-century trombonists
- 21st-century British male musicians
- British male jazz musicians
- Jazz Warriors members
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Motéma Music artists