Biography:

 

Andy Schofield is a saxophonist/arranger from Manchester, UK (born in 1966). He lived in Berlin from 2009-13, and now lives in Prague.

 

He was active on the UK jazz scene for many years, and was a long-time member of the Creative Jazz Orchestra, working alongside a diversity of international artists such as Kenny Wheeler, Bill Frisell, Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Mike Gibbs, and Vince Mendoza.

 

In 2005 Andy was commisioned to write a suite to commemorate the 10th Manchester International Jazz Festival, featuring the late John Taylor as guest artist.

The music was recorded in Prague in 2018, and recently released on the CD "Suite For JT", on the Animal Records label.

 

Andy has been lead alto in Tim Garland's Northern Underground Orchestra, the Creative Jazz Orchestra (in big band projects with Mike Gibbs, Vince Mendoza and Kenny Wheeler), the John Taylor big band, Czech Radio big band, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and currently Nikki Iles' Jazz Orchestra (in UK) and Jazz Dock Orchestra (in Prague).

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In 2011/12 Andy was a featured soloist on both alto and tenor sax on George Michael's Symphonica European tour, and subsequent album and TV documentary (2014).

 

As an arranger, Andy has worked in the commercial and jazz worlds, and contributed arrangements to the BBC Big Band, Ronnie Scott's Club Jazz Orchestra, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Bulgarian Radio Big Band, and Czech Radio Big Band amongst others. His original piece "Hear My Voice" recently won an award in the UMO Big Band Composing Contest in Helsinki, Finland.

 

He is also a co-founder of the Jazz Dock Orchestra, a big band based at Jazz Dock jazz club in Prague for the last 6 years, playing original compositions and arrangements, as well as repertoire from the great jazz composer/arrangers. The band's debut CD "Tonight" was released in October 2023.