Biography of Curios

Winners, Best Band, BBC Jazz Awards 2008.

Since the release of the band’s debut album ‘Hidden’ in February 2007, Curios have made a striking impact on the UK jazz scene. Hailed as ‘triumphant’ in MOJO (who later ranked the album as their #2 jazz record of the year), ‘spellbinding’ in the Independent, ‘dazzling’ in Jazz UK and ‘pioneering’ in Musician magazine, the album was nominated in the BBC Jazz Awards, and reached the top 5 in both the HMV and the Radio 3 Jazz Charts. Curios completed a nationwide tour to rave reviews in the spring, and were invited to record a live session for Jazz On 3, which aired shortly afterwards. They were the first band to appear at the newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall in June, and were later featured on the Culture Show. This was followed by a large article and cover photo of the band in the summer edition of Jazz UK. In 2008 the band has appeared for 3 nights at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club (with Polar Bear) and at the Barbican, opening up for Wayne Shorter. Following their award of Best Band in the BBC Jazz Awards 2008, the second album ‘Closer’ will be released on 1st September.

Formed in 2006 by pianist and composer Tom Cawley, the distinctive sound of Curios owes all to the group’s chemistry and the unrivalled interplay between the musicians. Drawing on romantic classical music as much as modern jazz, Cawley’s compositions are melodic, fiery, serene, intense. Live, the band covers the whole spectrum – at times delicate, at times wildly percussive; flashing from a whisper to a roar. Described in Time Out as ‘state-of-the-art piano trio music’, the group’s recent gig at London’s Vortex jazz club moved the critic Chris Parker to proclaim Curios as ‘a must-see piano trio for anyone interested in where this most crucial of jazz formats can be taken’.