Ned Bennett is a saxophonist, composer, arranger and teacher. Having studied at Bristol University and the Guildhall School of Music, he now lives in London. He is a regular performer at many of London’s great jazz venues (Ronnie Scott’s, the Bull’s Head, Pizza Express, etc) with various bands. He runs his own group, the Harlem Meer Cats with regular performances at Jazz clubs in London and the South of England.
Welcome to World Of Ned
Saxophonist
Ned plays soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. He has performed with many groups including Jools Holland, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, London Swing Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, to name but a few. He regularly plays with trios in many top restaurants and hotels, including Le Caprice, the Dorchester, 34, Mandarin Oriental etc.
His own projects include the Harlem Meer Cats (early Duke Ellington Cotton Club band), Suave Jazz (jazz trio for private and corporate events), and Nedwardo and the Rumbanauts (strict tempo band). He is also the saxophonist with the Mississippi Swamp Dogs, a highly sought after and entertaining New Orleans blues, funk, jazz, soul and party band.
Composer
As a composer Ned has written for Symphony Orchestra, Big Band, Choirs, String Quartet, Brass ensembles, saxophone groups and soloists and so on. He has many publications to his name, including The Jazz Sax Collection (fabermusic), A New Tune A Day books for Sax, Flute and Clarinet (Boston music), Absolute Beginners Flute and Clarinet (Wise), Sing All The Best choir collections, (fabermusic), Jazz Club (fabermusic). He also contributes regularly to books of songs for primary schools published by Out Of The Ark.
Projects
The Harlem Meer Cats is Ned’s Early Duke Ellington Cotton-Club-style band. Its six members combine to make this band sound much larger than it actually is, due to the careful arrangements and hard work of the horn section. Recent gigs include Swanage Festival, St Martin’s Crypt, Bull’s Head, Belvedere Jazz Club, Opus One Swing Dance club etc. The Meer Cats have just recorded a fantastic CD.
Suave Jazz is Ned’s jazz trio, available to hire for corporate and private events. Always using great musicians, the trio has been heard at many venues, from restaurants and hotels, to houses and gardens, from basements to roofs, and used by many prestigious clients.
Arranger
Ned’s work as an arranger ranges from published piano versions of jazz, classical, folk and popular pieces, to large-scale works for massed choirs and orchestra. His re-workings of jazz standards have been performed by Clare Martin, Claire Teal, Joe Stilgoe, Ian Shaw, and Jacqui Dankworth. His arrangements feature in many publications from Fabermusic, Boston Music, and Out of the Ark. He also produced over 100 backing tracks for the national singing directive Sing Up.
