The Metropole Orchestra

Vince Mendoza

Chief Conductor



Five time grammy award winner Vince Mendoza has been at the forefront of the Jazz and contemporary music scene as a composer, conductor and recording artist for the last 20 years. He has written scores of compositions and arrangements for big band, extended compositions for chamber and symphonic settings while his jazz composing credits read like a “who's who” of the best modern instrumentalists and singers in the world today.

Solo Albums
His early solo albums on Blue Note Records, 'Start Here' and 'Instructions Inside', were critical triumphs that featured such artists as John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Ralph Towner, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine and others. 'Start Here' was voted one of Jazziz Magazine's 'Top Picks' and Mendoza was recognized as 'Best Composer/Arranger' by Swing Journal's critics poll in Japan. His CD "Epiphany" features his compositions played by the London Symphony Orchestra. His newest CD of chamber music “Blauklang” was nominated for a Grammy award. According to All about Jazz Mendoza “daringly expands the vernacular by including elements of abstract impressionism, romanticism and a highly onorthodox palette to position him as the clear and natural successor to the late Gil Evans.”

Mendoza and the Metropole
Mendoza's alliance with the Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands began in 1995. Since then he has conducted and arranged for the Metropole on stage and in the studio with countless artists. Since November 2005 he is the Chief Conductor and is frequently seen working with the Metropole at concerts, festivals and recordings with the likes of Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, The Brecker Brothers, Silje Nergaard and Ivan Lins.

Grammy Awards
With 5 Grammys and 22 nominations, Mendoza’s arranging has appeared on many critically acclaimed projects that include dozens of albums with song writing legends such as Björk, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin and Joni Mitchell. In February 2008 he received his fourth Grammy Award for his arrangement of Joe Zawinul’s In A Silent Way (‘Best Instrumental Arrangement’). In 2007 Some Skunk Funk with Randy Brecker and WDR Big Band Köln was awarded with a Grammy for ‘Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album’. 2001 saw Mendoza collect the Grammy for ‘Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist’ for his arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now and again in 2004 for the epoch-defining song Woodstock for Mitchell’s final studio album Travelogue. Mendoza has written commissioned compositions and arrangements for world-renowned classical and jazz groups that include Sting, the Yellowjackets, Al DiMeola, Gino Vanelli, Joe Zawinul, Mike Stern, Melody Gardot, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Debussy Trio, the L.A. Guitar Quartet, the Metropole Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC. His music was featured at the Berlin Jazz Festival. He has performed major works at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and he actively conducts concerts of his music in Europe, Japan, Scandinavia, and the U.K.

See for more information: www.vincemendoza.net
 

Jules Buckley

Permanent Guest Conductor



Composer, arranger, orchestrator and conductor Jules Buckley is a musical pioneer who pushes the boundaries of contemporary genres. Graduating with the Chairman’s Prize for Outstanding Musicianship from The Guildhall School of Music in 2004, Buckley burst onto the London scene when he founded the The Heritage Orchestra - the groundbreaking 45-piece chamber orchestra dedicated to performing new music with a daring approach to crossing and linking musical genres. Buckley has led The Heritage Orchestra through hugely successful live shows at many venues. Since then, he has worked with an impressive range of musicans, has amassed a library of compositions, including works for string quartets, big bands and symphony orchestras and has established a blossoming career utilising his many skills in the UK, Europe and increasingly, the USA.
As director of The Heritage Orchestra, Buckley has written compositions and orchestrations for a host of significant names from the jazz world and beyond, including Grammy Award-winning Brazilian producer and arranger Eumir Deodato, US singer Dwight Trible, US jazz vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jose James, Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira as well as many British artists including: Ninja Tune’s radical DJ/sampler Amon Tobin, saxophonist Chris Bowden, vocalist Natalie Williams and avant-garde musician and producer Brian Eno.

Aside from his work with The Heritage Orchestra, Buckley is also in demand as a composer, orchestrator and conductor. He has worked among others with the Arctic Monkeys, Dylan Howe, Kirk DiGiorgio, Gonzalo Rubacalba, J-Wave 15 Japan, The 747s, Terence Blanchard, The Freestylers, Cape Verdian musicians Bana, Gil Semedo, Dina Medina and Grace Evora, Andy Sheppard’s Saxophone Massive, Plaid (Warp records), Fernando Lameirinhas, US hard-bop and post-bop trumpeter Wallace Roney, the BBC Big Band’s tribute to the late Joe Zawinul. Jules Buckley collaborated frequently with Holland’s Metropole Orchestra - led by US composing and arranging legend, Vince Mendoza – before becoming its permanent guest conductor in 2008.
As a composer, Buckley has written work for a variety of platforms including all contemporary music genres as well as a few pieces for theatre. Credits in this area include: Gompers, Deadly Nightcap, References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot! and Hello Dad!. Forthcoming musical works include compositions for UK jazz saxophonist John Surman’s String Project, classical trumpeter Alison Balsam (Sony Classical) and another for Bristol’s drum and bass DJ and producer Suv (Reprazent).

Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music, Buckley has continued with his musicial education both formally and informally and in 2005 was awarded a Composition Fellowship from The Guildhall and a scholarship to attend The Henry Mancini Instutute in the Los Angeles where he was mentored by Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza and Alf Clausen.

For an extended biography and press quotes see www.serious.org.uk