London, 30th September 2022 Securing the Warriors legacy and championing the future of UK jazz – Tomorrow’s Warriors celebrates 30th anniversary with release of live recordings of
specially commissioned work
Single ‘I AM WARRIOR’ by Tomorrow’s Warriors
feat. Zara McFarlane – Out today DSP link
+ ‘I AM WARRIOR’ Limited edition double-album vinyl – released to fundraise & sustain Tomorrow’s Warriors £Free Learning Programme
out on vinyl & digital 28 October – vinyl pre-sale & digital pre-save
Series Finale gig I AM WARRIOR @Jazz Café 27 October – tickets
(Friday 30 September 2022) Pioneering talent development organisation and charity Tomorrow’s Warriors today announced the release of ‘I AM WARRIOR’, a single out today featuring Zara McFarlane, and album of the same name coming out 28 October, in celebration of three illustrious decades of the organisation.
These are live recordings of music commissioned across the past three years from multiple generations of high-profile alumni who have come through its acclaimed £Free talent development programme. The Warriors alumni are a ‘who’s who’ of the hottest names in UK jazz and include Zara McFarlane, CHERISE, Camilla George, Cassie Kinoshi, Denys Baptiste, Nathaniel Facey, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Soweto Kinch, Mark Kavuma, Rosie Turton, Mark Crown, Shirley Tetteh, Ben Burrell, Binker Golding, Peter Edwards and Femi Koleoso. All of these alumni have created specially-commissioned pieces for the latest generation of young Warrior musicians to premiere at Tomorrow’s Warriors’ I AM WARRIOR gigs at the Jazz Café between 2019-2021 (where the recordings have been made), with many of the composers appearing as featured artists on their own pieces.
The first release is ‘I AM WARRIOR’, a digital only single composed and performed by alumna Zara McFarlane that comes out today on all platforms. This will be followed by ‘I AM WARRIOR’ – a limited-edition double album vinyl, that with only 500 pressed, will be a collector’s item when it is released on 28 October. The vinyl is released with the aim of fundraising, with 100% of proceeds going back to sustain Tomorrow’s Warriors highly sought-after £Free to access talent development programme.
The commissions have been made possible by the PRS Foundation Talent Development Partner funding and the single and album are being released on Tomorrow’s Warriors’ own label The Sound Of Tomorrow’s Warriors.
The I AM WARRIOR show will be the grand finale to the series at Tomorrow’s Warriors’ original home, the Jazz Café in London, held during Black History Month on Thursday 27 October, tickets on sale now here. The show will be a celebration of three years of new jazz collaborations, featuring special guests Zara McFarlane, CHERISE, Camilla George, Cassie Kinoshi, Denys Baptiste, Nathaniel Facey, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Peter Edwards, Mark Kavuma, Rosie Turton and Mark Crown, with Binker Golding as MD, all performing alongside the current crop of astonishing young Warrior talent in the Soon Come Ensemble.
Janine Irons MBE, co-founder & Chief Executive of Tomorrow’s Warriors, who commissioned the I AM WARRIOR project said: “We are really proud and delighted to finally release the recordings of our commissions from our alumni and make it the highlight of our 30th anniversary celebrations. We would like to thank all our amazing alumni for being on this journey with us and for waiving their royalties for the TW cause. Thanks also to PRS Foundation for the funding that enabled the creation, performance and recordings of these works. All of the music captures an expression and celebration of the Warriors spirit, both past, present and future, and symbolizes the passing on of a cultural legacy. Over 30 years it’s been vital for us to keep the scene dynamic, fresh and diverse, and nurture our alumni community, while also seeking to fundraise to keep our free talent development programme going for the next generation coming through. We are only pressing I AM WARRIOR 500 vinyl, so it will be a rare collector’s item. Go grab your copy of the music, you will be supporting not only the future of the scene, but also the finest.”
Mark Kavuma added about the I AM WARRIOR project “Being involved in the I AM WARRIOR programme has been an invaluable experience for me and I’m excited that the music will finally be released and shared with the world! Tomorrow’s Warriors always provide a safe space for me to explore and build upon my artistry and creativity. It is through opportunities like these, where I was able to compose, interact with other musicians, record and perform that I am able to keep on learning and growing as an artist, particularly during the current climate and what is going on in the world. For that I am ever so grateful.”
Tomorrow’s Warriors has played a vital role within its community and the wider music industry for over 30 years and has been credited with literally changing the face of UK jazz. Free access to Tomorrow’s Warriors artistic programme has proved crucial in nurturing the nascent talent and early careers of so many of the most exciting UK artists currently tearing up the international jazz scene, including all the artists on the album and Jazz Café show, plus Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Femi Koleoso and Ezra Collective, Shabaka Hutchings and Sons of Kemet, Soweto Kinch, ESKA, Nathaniel Facey and Empirical, Nérija, Jason Yarde, Robert Mitchell, Byron Wallen…the list goes on.
A black-founded and black-led organisation, Tomorrow’s Warriors is based at Southbank Centre in London and offers a pioneering, comprehensive programme of learning and training which, in particular champions young black and female talent and those who come from challenging circumstances that would be a barrier to accessing opportunities to pursue a musical career. Since inception, in 1991, Tomorrow’s Warriors has reached over 10,000 young people aged 11-25 through its unique Talent Development Programme, providing each musician with between 1,000-5,000 hours of free jazz training and development.
Creating collaborations that cross over generations of musicians and capture the essence of Tomorrow’s Warriors ethos ‘Each One, Teach One’, ‘I AM WARRIOR’ is The Sound of Tomorrow’s Warriors LIVE.
I AM WARRIOR Album Tracklisting:
Side A 1. The Fighter (Mark Crown)
- The Warrior Way (Peter Edwards)
- Exquisite Green Revisited (Binker Golding)
Side B 1. I Am Warrior (Zara McFarlane)
- Sutures (Shirley Tetteh)
- The Change (Soweto Kinch)
Side C 1. Hear Me (Cherise Adams-Burnett)
- Emem (Peace) (Camilla George)
- Joyful Sound (Rosie Turton)
Side D 1. Warriors Rise As One ((composed but not performed by Denys Baptiste)
- Like You Said (Sheila Maurice-Grey)
- We Warriors (Mark Kavuma)
Bonus Tracks (by digital download)
- Hummingbird ((composed but not performed by Cassie Kinoshi)
- Each One Teach One (Benjamin Burrell)
- Slingshot (Nathaniel Facey)
- Doan Follow Nah Edyiat (composed but not performed by Femi Koleoso)
