Perturbando: Oren Marshall, left, Alua Nascimento and Jansen Santana.

Tuba maestro Oren Marshall guests at Jazz Hastings

Next guest on the Jazz Hastings stage is an astonishing musician who has been described as “The Jimi Hendrix of the Tuba”. The master of this unusual jazz instrument is Oren Marshall, who will be appearing with his trio Perturbando on 1 July.

Oren began his musical career as a tuba player working with trad jazz bands in South London pubs in the early 80’s. He has since worked with a diverse array of musicians and ensembles, including rock band Radiohead, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, poet Moondog, Brazilian maestro Hermeto Pascoal and in duo with award-winning vocalist, Bobby McFerrin, who memorably said, “I ain’t ever heard a Tuba played like that before”.

Oren was a founding member of Sons of Kemet and regularly worked with the London-based big band Loose Tubes and its various off-shoot projects. Through the years he has worked with every major orchestra in London.

By the age of 21 he had been offered the position of principal tuba in the London Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in Germany.

But he turned down both jobs in order to pursue a more risky but varied career. He has recorded three solo albums of his own compositions and as a member of London Brass, toured the world and performed privately for the late Queen, Prince Charles, the Pope, the German Chancellor and the Chinese Premier.

Oren has also played on hundreds of movie soundtracks, including Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Hobbit, Kung Fu Panda, Hellboy, Dark Knight Rises, Infinity War and Mission Impossible Fallout, as well as some of the films in the Spiderman and Men In Black franchises.

He was tuba professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance for 17 years, where he was also head of Brass for during seven years. Currently he is visiting professor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He continues to be in high demand as a teacher and has given brass masterclasses in over 50 countries on six continents.

Since March 2020, motivated by the various lockdowns, Oren has written and recorded many children’s songs to boost morale in his local community and keep young children connected to live music. He now serves a network of over 400 local families who regularly attend his music sessions in south London, where he lives with his two children and two dogs.

For this session he’ll be playing with his trio Perturbando, in which he is joined by two giants of the Brazilian music scene, Alua Nascimento and Jansen Santana, both percussionists.

They will play new original compositions and arrangements by Oren which draw on influences from Afro-Brazilian culture, North African rhythms and jazz to weave a distinctive and unique musical thread designed, they say, to uplift the soul. It should be fun!

Oren Marshall and Perturbando Jazz Hastings, Tuesday 1 July, East Hastings Sea Angling Association (on the Stade behind the lifeboat station). Doors open 7.45pm for 8.30 start, tickets £15 on the door, £3 for under 18s.

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