Simon Spillett
Simon Richard Spillett (born Chesham, Buckinghamshire, November 4, 1974) is a multi-award winning English jazz tenor saxophonist.
He has won the BBC Jazz Awards Rising Star (2007), Jazz Journal's Critics' Choice album of the Year (2009), the British Jazz Awards Top Tenor Saxophonist (2011), the Services to British Jazz award (2016).
In 2017, he was leading his own quartet featuring pianist John Critchinson, bassist Alec Dankworth and drummer Clark Tracey, as well as appearing with bands led by other leaders including the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra. He also works as a guest soloist at jazz venues across the UK. His many club and festival appearances include sold-out gigs at Ronnie Scott's and The Brecon Jazz Festival, and he has made several appearances leading his own group on BBC Radio Three.
Leading British jazz figures with whom he has worked include Sir John Dankworth, Stan Tracey, Peter King, Liane Carroll, Tina May, John Etheridge, Guy Barker, Alan Barnes and Bobby Wellins. American musicians with whom he has worked include Jon Hendricks, Bobby Shew and Monica Mancini.
Spillett's biography of saxophonist Tubby Hayes - The Long Shadow Of The Little Giant (Equinox, 2015) - has been widely praised as one of the finest jazz biographies in existence.
Since 2016 he has contributed a regular monthly column to Jazz Journal, mixing humorous reflections on his experiences as a musician with observations about famous historical jazz figures and reportage on the current UK jazz circuit.
He is well regarded for his on-stage presentation skills, which dry mix humour, anecdotes about jazz history and self-deprecating wit. He has also acted as a compere at several jazz festivals and appears in the anchor interview role in the 2015 documentary film, Tubby Hayes: A Man In A Hurry.
In October 2016, Spillett was appointed as a Patron of the Jazz Centre UK, joining fellow patrons Sir Michael Parkinson, Dame Cleo Laine, Van Morrison, Paul Jones (of Manfred Mann) and Jools Holland.
After studying with Eddie Harvey, Tony Russell and Ken Wray, Spillett's father Richard worked as a semi-professional musician, playing gigs with saxophonists Tony Coe, Jimmy Skidmore and Lol Coxhill.
A love of jazz grew through exposure to his father's record collection and by his teens he was listening to Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra and others. His musical life began at school, singing in school choirs, while at home he learned a variety of brass instruments including the trombone and valve trombone. Spillett took up the alto saxophone aged 16 and taught himself initially by playing along with records. Aged 17, he switched to tenor saxophone inspired by hearing albums by John Coltrane, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins. At this time he also played piano, clarinet and soprano saxophone.
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