First heard at the 2003 London Jazz Festival, the Monk Liberation Front (MLF) played a 6-hour set featuring all 70 of Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk's compositions. The band the included 11 musicians performing in tandem throughout the day, with lead originators Jonathan Gee and Tony Kofi on stage for the majority. They performed again in July 2004 at the Rome, Terni and Vignola Jazz Festivals and a second LJF appearance in 2007 with a septet. Since then occasional quartet versions have performed selected Monk tunes, but until now, they have not been to Bristol

Tony Kofi's Quartet was voted best ensemble at the 2005 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, and this quartet features three original MLF band members plus Rod Youngs on drums

Tony Kofi is a British Jazz multi-instrumentalist born of Ghanaian parents, he plays all the Saxes from Alto to baritone; plus Flutes. Having 'cut his teeth' in the "Jazz Warriors" of the early 90s, this award-winning saxophonist has gone on to establish himself as a musician, teacher and composer of some authority

Tony has performed/recorded with; Gary Crosby's NuTroop and Jazz Jamaica, and been featured in many other bands, collaborating with such artists as; US-3, The World Saxophone Quartet, Courtney Pine, Donald Byrd, Eddie Henderson, Abdullah Ibrahim, Macy Gray, Harry Connick JR, Byron Wallen's Indigo and Ornette Coleman.

He's also been a member of the Big Bands of David Murray, Sam Rivers, Julian Joseph and Andrew Hill; and he currently leads his own Quartet, his Sphinx Trio, the Future Passed Trio and is also the co-founder with Jonathan Gee of the MLF.

Tony's most recent projects sees him performing with Alex Webb's Café Society Swing, Arnie Somogyi's Jump, Larry Bartley's JustUS Quartet , a double leaders project with Alan Barnes called Aggregation, Orphy Robinson's Bobby Hutcherson songbook project, Portrait of Cannonball (Music dedicated to Cannonball Adderley) and 'Tony Kofi and the Organisation'; a recent project which he co-leads on the Baritone Saxophone....he's a busy guy with lots to say, which he does brilliantly

Jonathan Gee is one the most prolific and imaginative composer-pianists operating today, with a succession of ever-enticing bands and projects with world class line-ups from Europe and the USA.

Aside from his own bands with which he has recorded 8 albums, he has also worked closely with Bobby Wellins, Claire Martin and Tim Whitehead, Pharoah Sanders, Mark Murphy and Art Farmer. With Tony Kofi he co-founded the MLF, whose legendary performances of the complete Thelonious Monk catalogue have led to award-winning recordings.

He has performed in groups comprised of leading musicians from France, Finland and Italy, and a fantastic trio emerging from the hothouse of the New York jazz scene featuring Joseph Lepore and Nasheet Waits which packed out Dizzy's at the Lincoln Centre.

"Today, cutting-edge jazz trios require interaction between players and expect both drummer and bassist to be more than just disciples. Trio leaders such as Jason Moran, John Escreet, Matthew Shipp all write and perform their music as a three-way conversation. Add to that list, London-based pianist Jonathan Gee"....'All About Jazz'... John Corroto

Jonathan has a singing album due out very soon, and his Beatles Reimagined album with Italian Saxophonist, Gaetano Partipilo was released in December 2020.

In March of 2020, Jonathan dueted with Mike Westbrook OBE at the Pizza Express/Steinway x 2, piano Festival, drawing this comment....

Bassist Ben Hazelton, started playing regular professional work when he was only 15yo, on gigs and in stage shows of all sorts.
He studied at Middlesex University for a degree in jazz music, before gaining a Scholarship to study on the Betty Carter - Jazz Ahead Programme in Washington D.C (2002 and 2003)

The Worshipful Company of Musicians awarded Ben the 'Young Jazz Musician of the Year' 2003.

He's since been playing with anyone who is anyone on the London jazz scene; and has a strong interest in Indian classical music. Over the last few years he has been studying Indian Tabla, an instrument he also now performs professionally

Rod Youngs is a London based drummer and composer, who seamlessly moves from one genre to another.
A former native of Washington D.C. in the States, Rod recalls his first exposure to live music;
"My dad managed some of Washington's foremost R&B groups and would occasionally take me along to gigs/recording sessions.."

Rod has a uniquely identifiable style, relaxed and loose-limbed; giving a great sense of swing.
It's a style that incorporates influences across the board from Sid Catlett to Tony Williams, centred in the great post-Bop drummers of the 50s. Rod's consummate musicianship has garnered him a wide variety of work from concerts and recordings to sessions for radio, TV and film.

He has become the drummer of choice for a formidable array of artists and groups including, Gil Scott-Heron, Lee Konitz, Courtney Pine, Jon Hendricks, Hugh Masekela, Carleen Anderson, Natalie Cole, Mica Paris, Denys Baptiste, Abdullah Ibrahim, Julian Joseph, BBC Concert Orchestra, Robin Eubanks and Jazz Jamaica All Stars.

Rod is actively involved in music education, serving as an instructor on the Glamorgan University jazz course and Southampton University, for the Tomorrow's Warriors Organisation, Serious International Music Producers and The Round House. He also serves as a guest artist at the Planet Drum School and the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy

tonykofi.com  jonathangee.co.uk 

Check out these video clips, first one is of Monk and his Quartet in Japan in 1963 playing "Epistrophy", the second is the MLF live at The Verdict in Brighton, 2021

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