Already after two weeks of studying composition at the Royal College of Music in London, self-taught keyboard-player Django Bates, native of Kent, decided he would teach himself. That he succeeded shows evidently from the fact that in 1997 Bates won the prestigious Jazzpar Prize in Denmark, also named the 'Nobel Prize of Jazz'. The prize partly consisted of recordings with his own group and the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, which resulted in the album Like Life. After working with bands Borderline and Zila he composed his own quartet Human Chain and played a central part in big band Delightful Precipice. Bates has a good international reputation for both jazz, classical and even pop music. Last year he was entirely occupied with his work as composer and director of the European Jazz Youth Orchestra, which took him on tour all over Europe. In order of the BBC he composed the piece Priceless for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. For their performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival Bates and his quartet Human Chain (Iain Ballamy on sax, Michael Mondesir on bass, Martin France on percussion) will be assisted by vocalist Josefine Lindstrand.
