Meteor-like, Gwilym Simcock hit the jazz scene with a vengeance when he made an assured debut with Perception two years ago, devastatingly belying his newcomer status. Since then he has made giant strides in both the jazz and classical world but will he be able to justify the oceans of praise he has received with follow-up album Blues Vignette? If anything the stakes have been raised still higher on the double album with a brand new trio, a version of the Grieg piano concerto, vocal standards ‘Black Coffee’ and ‘Cry Me a River’ and even a tribute to Weather Report’s Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul. Selwyn Harris catches up with Simcock on tour in south east Asia

“I do feel guilty to have had quite a lot of recognition and I’m sure they’ll be people out there who’ll resent me for having so many opportunities,” concedes the UK’s most upwardly mobile young jazz musician for decades. It’s important to Gwilym Simcock that he pays his dues like any other jazzer. Yet such a remarkable start to a career as this Welsh-born pianist-composer has experienced could easily go to a young man’s head. But not this one as Simcock is a very unassuming young gent; he comes across with the same kind of genuine humility in conversation as when Jazzwise first caught up with him back in 2004 having just graduated with first class honours from the Royal Academy of Music. That’s in spite of Simcock since becoming the most fêted jazz musician of his generation. And by a long chalk too. Of course he’s had more than a few assists along the way.

This is an extract from Jazzwise Issue #136 – to read the full article click here to subscribe and receive a FREE copy of the latest Partisans CD 'By Proxy'.