— saxophone

Born into a family of musicians Josh Schofield has always been surrounded by music. His first and favourite CD as a child was an Ella Fitzgerald compilation which, after a misadventure with the violin, led to him taking up the saxophone, aged 9. Josh was lucky to receive early guidance from Julian Joseph and Percy Pursglove and on leaving high school won a scholarship to Royal Birmingham Conservatoire to study with Mike Williams and John O’Gallagher. Here he had the opportunity to play alongside visiting artists such as Dave Holland, Nate Smith and George Colligan. Whilst in Birmingham Josh played as sideman with a number of groups and developed his skills as a band leader. The Josh Schofield Quartet was selected by the Jazz Promotion Network for their emerging talents scheme, has toured throughout the UK, performing at venues such as Kings Place London, Harrogate Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival and attracting attention in Jazzwise’s yearly ‘who to look out for’ feature. In 2018 a substantial award from the Countess of Munster Trust enabled Josh to enroll on the Masters Programme at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam where he furthered his studies under the tutelage of Ben Van Gelder, Jasper Blom and Dick Oatts. He formed a new international cordless trio, performed at North Sea and Amsterdam Jazz Festivals, and appeared in projects with Ben Wendel, Vince Mendoza and Bob Mintzer. Josh has also spent a lot of time playing in large ensembles. He has recorded with Birmingham Jazz Orchestra, CvA Concert Band (featuring Reinier Baas), Charlie Bates Big Band and performed with NYJO, MYJO, Syd Lawrence Orchestra, 11 Birmingham Ellington Orchestra and Peter Beets & Henk Meutgeert New Jazz Orchestra.

— bass

Since his childhood, Josef Zeimetz has been looking for new means of expression. Growing up in Dresden in a musical family, his musical journey with cello, trombone, double bass and electric bass led him to jazz and many other musical genres. After completing his BA studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, he continued his studies with Larry Grenadier and Ambrose Akinmusire in Basel. In addition to performing and writing for his band WUROPE, Josef Zeimetz works continuously with a variety of musicians, including pianists Julia Perminova and Vincent Meissner. With the latter, he recorded the album “Bewegtes Feld” (2021), produced by Michael Wollny for ACT Records. At 25, Josef can look back on a successful career in the jazz world, having won prizes such as the soloist prize of “Jugend Jazzt”, the first prize of the Middle German Jazz Award (2020), the first prize of the Young Munich Jazz Prize (2021) and the first prize of the UA International Jazz Competition (Aveiro, 2021). Concert tours have taken him all over the European continent, from Portugal to Turkey.

— drums

Genius Wesley has been hailed as a prodigy jazz drummer and percussionist. At age 20, he has already performed with luminaries including David Binney, Sean Jones, Buster Williams, Azar Lawrence, Bill Bell, Curtis Lundy, The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, Kalil Wilson, Gerald Clayton, and many more. He performs regularly and coaches youth players with the late Khalil Shaheed’s Oaktown Jazz Workshop and the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra. He currently resides in Basel, Switzerland, where he is studying with Jeff Ballard at Jazzcampus on a full scholarship.