Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson

Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson has led bands including some of the leading lights of jazz including Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Bheki Mseleku, Mark Mondesir, Aldo Romano and Gary Husband. He has also performed with legends of jazz including Kenny Kirkland, Branford Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Courtney Pine and many others. He released a suite of albums in the mid-nineties, the aptly titled ‘Emergence’ being the first. It has been described as “an accomplished, powerful and spiritually uplifting album”. ‘The Gift’ followed a year later and is imbued with a spirit of joy and release. In 1999 Vaughan released ‘See You There’, featuring the great South African pianist Bheki Mseleku, Mark Mondesir on drums and Jeremy Brown on acoustic bass. The album and subsequent tour cemented Vaughan’s reputation as a world class performer and was followed in 2001 by the live release of the band in fiery form ‘Live at The Wardrobe’. In 2005 Vaughan wrote ‘The Freedom Suite’ which receiving its premier performance at The Purcell Room in London featuring Julian Joseph on piano and Gary Husband on drums.