Jamil's blog
Jamil Sheriff was born at Bolton Royal Infirmary in March 1977 and in 1995 he moved to Leeds to study at the College of Music.
Jamil graduated from Leeds College of Music with a first class honours degree and was presented with “Friends Prize for Performance”, “Friends Prize for Composition” and the “Arms Award” given to the student with the highest degree result of that academic year.
1998 Jamil was invited to work in the Rosie Brown quartet, an ensemble that has evolved over the years, but one that Jamil still enjoys being a part of. The current line up of this ensemble includes bassist John Thorn and drummer Jonas Bachman. The latest venture of the group is a joint writing collaboration between Jamil and Rosie, the result of which will be their forthcoming album.
1999 Jamil joined the Andrew Colman quartet. Andrew had recently won the Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition. The quartet recorded an album featuring artists Peter King, Tina May, Jez Franks and Dave Newton.
The group has been performing regularly over the past nine years and now includes drummer John Perry and Bassist John Thorn.
The new album, “I Remember You” (2008 33 Records) is out now.
2002 Jamil was invited to work for nationally acclaimed composer and saxophonist James Russell. This work has lead to the touring performances of the Romeo and Juliet Jazz Suite and the Under Milk Wood Jazz suite.
2003 Jamil formed his own group, The Jamil Sheriff Octet.
That year the octet recorded its internationally acclaimed debut album “Daydreams”.
The Octet has toured theatres and jazz venues extensively over the past five years and is still the catalyst for much of Jamil’s new writing.
The continued support of Arts Council England has helped with the planning and funding of tours and recordings throughout the ensembles existence.
The band is Jamil Sheriff, John Perry, Zoltan Dekany, Pat McCarthy Kevin Hollborough, Ben Martin, Joel Purnell and Andrew Colman.
The latest album is “Backchat” (2008), which is signed to 33 records.
2005 Jamil received commissions from the National Centre for Early Music and Manchester Jazz Festival. Both of these works were written for new ensembles and featured artists such as Eroll Roberts, Dave Edge, Richard Turner and Henrich Lidderman.
2007 Jamil recorded with Rob Lavers (Small Creature 33 records), James Taylor (JAVA GLP Records) Sara Littlefield Quartet (Toad Soup Independent)
2008 Jamil recorded with the Jamil Sheriff Octet (Backchat 33 Records), Joel Purnell (Red Shift GLP Records), Andrew Colman Quartet (I Remember You 33 Records).