Phil Robson – guitar Julian Siegel – saxophones Thad Kelly – bass Gene Calderazo –drums

Partisans is often rightly described as a jazz supergroup. Co-led by guitarist Phil Robson, from Derby, and saxophonist Julian Siegel, from Nottingham, it’s been thrilling audiences with its ferociously energetic performances since its formation in 1996. Their tightly-knit themes and visceral, groove-based sound bridges the gap between New York swing, UK rock energy and the US jam scene. One of the first of the new wave of UK jazz bands to be influenced as much by Jimi Hendrix as by Miles Davis or Sonny Rollins, Partisans is a real band where each member's influences combines with a real creative spark generating huge excitement and energy.

In summer 2009 Partisans released By Proxy, their 4th album on Babel, and a testament to their maturity and continuing inventiveness as composers and musicians. The album cooks up a trademark shot of gritty be-bop and hard bop, early electric Miles, ballads with sustained delicacy, rock riffs mixed with P-Funk grooves and with fresh departures into electronica notably on Thad Kelly's distinctive remix of Duke Ellington's 'Prelude to a Kiss'. The richly lyrical and strongly melodic compositions written by Robson and Siegel provide the framework and starting point, underpinned by the rock solid, freewheeling and supercharged rhythm section of Kelly and Calderazzo.

www.myspace.com/thebandpartisans

www.partisans.org.uk