Yazz Ahmed

'I have been playing Eclipse trumpets and flugelhorns since 2007 and have never looked back! I instantly fell in love with the instruments when I first had a go on a colleague's medium heavy yellow trumpet in 2006. I've never played such magnificently designed instruments before, all tailored made for the individual. I'm amazed by the ease of playing, the accurate intonation, but above all, the "mellifluous tone", as one reviewer commented, that I can create on these special trumpets. I recently replaced my original gold plated yellow-belled flugelhorn, with the latest model, this time in lacquer with a red brass bell. The first instrument was absolutely superb and in six years I'd never come across anything to equal it, until now! I can't believe it, but Leigh's achieved the impossible - this latest model is even better!'

Tipped as a rising star by Jazzwise and Time Out magazines, Yazz Ahmed became the first British female trumpet player to lead her own quintet at the legendary Ronnie Scott's jazz club in 2010, when she opened the Brit Jazz Fest.

In 2012, Yazz represented Bahrain in London's Cultural Olympiad, joining renowned musicians from the Arabian Gulf in collaboration with Transglobal Underground. This project, 'In Transit', was supported by the British Council and has performed in Dubai and London.

During November 2012, Yazz was involved in a cultural exchange project, 'Interplay', working with musicians from Britain and Sweden as a composer and performer. The collaborators for 'Interplay' included Denys Baptiste, Samuel Hallkvist, Ira Mogilevsky and Michala Ostergaard-Nielsen.

More recently, Yazz was selected for Take Five Edition VIII supported by Serious and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

Yazz has recorded and performed with, Max Romeo, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, the Manic Street Preachers, Swing Out Sister, Twiggy and the Urban Soul Orchestra.

Yazz plays flugelhorn on Radiohead's album The King of Limbs and The King Of Limbs, Live From The Basement, which was screened worldwide during July 2011.

In 2013 she will be touring the world with emerging UK rock-art ensemble, These New Puritans.

Yazz's debut album, Finding My Way Home, featuring bass virtuoso, Janek Gwizdala and clarinetist, Shabaka Hutchings, was released in August 2011. The album is a collection of original compositions and improvisations, exploring the sounds and rhythms of Yasmeen's Arabic heritage, revisiting memories from her early childhood in Bahrain. These are contrasted with pieces reflecting the classic British jazz from the 1950s and 60s, which was the soundtrack to her teenage years and was her gateway into improvised music.

Gary Crosby OBE included Finding My Way Home in his top five releases of 2011.

"Ahmed has a precise, poised but warm, atmospheric sound... she is a considerable and - most important - highly individual instrumental and compositional talent." - Chris Parker, London Jazz Blog