Art Themen

Art Themen is a totally unique figure in British jazz, from the wide variety of styles his career has encompassed (rhythm and blues and hard bop), but also because for much of his life he was also working as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon! Going to Cambridge University was no bad thing for his jazz career, as a member of the swinging hard bop Cambridge University Jazz Band under pianist Lionel Grigson which swept the board at The Melody Maker University Jazz Band Competitions in the late 1950s. Then followed a stint with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, a long association with Stan Tracey and tours with such American stars as Charlie Rouse, Nat Adderley and Red Rodney.

Retirement from medicine has seen Art playing with immense fluency and seeking out new musical companions: Pete Whitaker and George Double in his organ trio, Thane and the Villeins, for instance, or, on a recent recording, drummer Dave Barry. Birmingham audiences will remember his electrifying performances sitting in with The Shufflepack.

Watch Art Themen perform at the following shows: