The acclaimed trombonist Dennis Rollins joins forces with North Stars Steel Orchestra, an award-winning 18-piece steel pan band currently celebrating its 30th year.
Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean traditions have generally followed parallel lines with few crossovers; for the first time ever in the UK a jazz musician and a steel band are collaborating on new arrangements/compositions and touring across the country. Molten Metal: The Brass and Steel Tour brings together Dennis’ trombone, and the improvisation and solo musicianship at the heart of the Afro-American jazz tradition, with North Stars Steel Orchestra’s pre-determined collective form of Afro-Caribbean music-making in a spectacular musical experience.
Acclaimed as a musician, composer and educator, Dennis Rollins is well-known on the British and international jazz scene and is celebrated for his professionalism, versatility and unique approach to the underrated trombone. Recently hailed by Jazzwise as ‘the most exciting British trombonist in decades’, Dennis is inspiring a new generation of musicians and audiences – demonstrating how the underrated trombone can be an exciting front-line instrument.
North Stars Steel Orchestra is one of Europe’s oldest and best-established steel bands. Founded in Huddersfield in 1975, North Stars set out with grand ambitions: to reveal to the British people the true spirit, virtuosity and power of the authentic steel pan art form as it is practiced in its birthplace of Trinidad. In 30 years, the orchestra has constantly striven to expand the scope and scale of both the music and its audience through performance, education, competition and collaboration.
