The Paradise Trio

The Paradise Trio, composed of Richard Iles, Mike Walker and Les Chisnall, have played together for the past 25 years and you can really hear it when they perform. As individuals, they are masterful players, as a trio, their musical chemistry and understanding of each other’s playing takes things to a whole new level. Here is a recording made at Manchester Jazz Festival

Richard Iles began playing trumpet at the age of 11 after getting the “bug” to play jazz after hearing his dad`s big band records. He attended Leeds College of Music and after leaving college ran the band Emanon with Mike Walker on guitar, Eryl Roberts on drums, Nikki Iles on piano and Gary Culshaw on bass. He has toured with Kenny Wheeler, Vince Mendoza, Anthony Braxton, Bill Frisell, Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Michael Formanek, Edward Vesala, Barry Guy, Django Bates, June Tabor and many others.

Mike Walker was influenced by his father’s piano playing, his mother’s singing, and his brother’s guitar playing. He went on to discover a passion for jazz guitarists Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Larry Coryell, and Tal Farlow. He is a member of Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra, and The Printmakers, a band organized by Nikki and Norma Winstone with Mark Lockheart, Steve Watts, and James Maddren, and The Impossible Gentleman with Steve Swallow, Adam Nussbaum, and Gwilym Simcock.

Les has worked with some of the worlds finest jazz musicians, including Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Mike Walker, Andy Schofield, Richard Iles, Steve Berry, Ian Ballamy to name but a few. Recent projects have included an album with Neil Yates New Origins and his continuing collaborations with Steve Berry.

Les Chisnall started to improvise as soon as he started to play the organ aged 11. Throughout his career composition has been central to his musical life especially in the contemporary classical field. He studied composition with Paul Mitchell-Davidson and Bill Connor. Les has written music for orchestra, piano, organ and particularly for choir which has always been a natural medium for him since his days as a chorister. Improvisation still features strongly in a number of these works, as in a commission for Manchester youth string orchestra two pieces to commemorate 9/11; Without Justice there can be no Peace, and Prayer (2005).His current posts are Professor of Jazz piano and improvisation at Chetham’s School of Music and Professor of Jazz piano at Leeds College of Music

Paradise Trio last appeared for JazzLeeds in 2016 – at Inkwell! Here’s a clip from that concert – also featuring Jamil Sheriff on piano

£12/10 in advance (plus fees) or £12 on the door Book Tickets