Andy Schofield Saxophone Workshop

“Developing Your Solo” – this masterclass will be led by British saxophonist Andy Schofield, accompanied by pianist Stanislav Mácha. The workshop will cover saxophone playing, jazz performance, and improvisation in general, with a special focus on developing your solo – how to work with ideas rhythmically, harmonically, and through motifs and melody. The aim is to transform improvisation from merely filling space into something with narrative and meaning.

Andy Schofield is a saxophonist/arranger from Manchester, UK (born in 1966), now living in Prague. He was a founding member of the Creative Jazz Orchestra in the UK in the 1990s, working alongside a diversity of international artists such as Kenny Wheeler, Bill Frisell, Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Mike Gibbs, and Vince Mendoza. In 2005 Andy was commisioned to write a suite to commemorate the 10th Manchester International Jazz Festival, featuring the late John Taylor as guest artist. The music was recorded in Prague in 2018, and recently released on the CD "Suite For JT", on the Animal Records label. 

Andy currently plays lead alto in Nikki Iles' Jazz Orchestra (in UK) and Jazz Dock Orchestra (in Prague), and in the past with Tim Garland's Northern Underground Orchestra, the Creative Jazz Orchestra (in big band projects with Mike Gibbs, Vince Mendoza and Kenny Wheeler), the John Taylor big band, Czech Radio big band, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, and Zürich Jazz Orchestra. In 2011/12 Andy was a featured soloist on both alto and tenor sax on George Michael's Symphonica European tour, and subsequent album and TV documentary (2014). Andy is the Musical Director and principal composer/arranger for Jazz Dock Orchestra in Prague, and has contributed arrangements to the BBC Big Band, Ronnie Scott's Club Jazz Orchestra, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Bulgarian Radio Big Band, Zürich Jazz Orchestra and Czech Radio Big Band amongst others. His original piece "Hear My Voice" recently won an award in the UMO Big Band Composing Contest in Helsinki, Finland. He is also a co-founder of Jazz Dock Orchestra, a big band based at Jazz Dock jazz club in Prague for the last 7 years, playing original compositions and arrangements, as well as repertoire from the great jazz composer/arrangers. The band's debut CD "Tonight" was released in October 2023.

Admission CZK 300.

Band website: www.andyschofieldmusic.com