The Sleaze Orchestra

SAXES) JACK LOOMAN (TROMBONE) RUTH ANNE GODFREY (CLARINET BASS CLARINET AND BARITONE) MARTIN LINDLEY-ROBINSON (TENOR SAX) JOHNNY TOMLINSON (KEYBOARDS) GEORGE RAGGATT (TRUMPET+FLUGEL) MATT ROBERTS (TRUMPET) NICK TYSON (GUITAR) SETH BENNET (DOUBLE BASS) TOMMY EVANS (DRUMS + CAHON)

The Sleaze Orchestra is a biggish band made up of students and alumni of Leeds College of Music. It has a unique instrumentation of two trumpets trombone, two saxophones, bass clarinet, piano, guitar, double bass and drums, plus vocalist Anna Stott. Each number is composed by a different member of the orchestra, the composers taking it in turns to direct their own piece.
“the most sublime cacophony” “Massive Attack meets Messian”-Jazzwise

Listen to the Sleaze Orchestra on myspace and watch them on youtube

Sunday Lunch December 7th 2008 1-4pm £4/£3 kids free at Seven Arts

Reviews

‘The 10-piece Sleaze Orchestra is refreshingly experimental with some astonishing moments, but not enough to alarm granny or spook the cat. Although there are occasional forays into “fire in the petshop” , free-jazz ensemble outburst like a giant sneeze, there is also much to enjoy, influences traceable back to Django Bates and the iconoclastic big band, Loose Tubes.
The music employs atmospheric blending of voice and instruments and ensembles reminiscent of Charles Mingus or Gil Evans. At other times it evokes poly-rhythmical  Hermeto Pascoal or Sun Ra. Intriguing, eh ?
The album was made on a shoestring to give some idea of the live experience of the Sleaze Orchestra and by cracky, it certainly does that.
Catch them live whenever you get the chance – this is exciting stuff deserving of a wide audience.’ – Ron Burnett, York Press

‘Just in case anyone hadn’t noticed that Leeds is rapidly becoming a leading hotbed of creative UK jazz, here’s a freewheeling big band of young players from that scene making a very big noise indeed. Recorded on a tiny budget as a showcase for the full-on live experience, the production values are a little raw, but on the evidence of the music, those shows must be stormers. There’s an ambitiously varied range of influences and flavours included on these nine tracks – from fractured funk, anthemic Cinematic Orchestra-style breaks and driving drum ‘n’ bass to classical Indian rhythms, Celtic reels and klezmer. But, despite the restless genre-hopping, the groove is never far away. There are some distinctive voices, too: Jack Looman’s snickering trombone is an irreverent presence, blowing hip raspberries from the wing; an Anna Stott’s wordless vocals recall some of Julie Tippetts’ most haunting experiments. Watch out for this lot.’ – Daniel Spincer, Jazzwise Magazine

‘In a market that is becoming increasingly saturated with second-rate Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra imitators, it is refreshing to hear a troupe of young musicians making original, cutting-edge jazz music. The troupe I refer to are the Sleaze Orchestra, a biggish band made up of students and alumni of Leeds College of Music.
This is only their second public performance, yet there is already hype that Sleaze are set to become the "next big thing". The audience waits patiently as the musicians take their places on the stand, and there are plenty of them, with the unique instrumentation of trumpet, trombone, two saxophones, bass clarinet, piano, two guitars, double bass and drums, as well as vocalist Anna Stott.’ – Sam Thornton, Sandman