Mike Mower

The English composer Mike Mower was born in Bath in 1958, and it was there that, as a child, he learned to play the flute. He went on to continue his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he also learned the saxophone and the clarinet. He is at home with many musical styles; in 1985 he founded the jazz saxophone quartet Itchy Fingers and has been the group's leader ever since. The group has toured in over forty countries across the world, given celebrated performances at several jazz festivals and received numerous international music awards. Mower regularly performs at jazz and rock concerts as well as on recordings; he has played in jazz and classical ensembles with such musicians as Gil Evans, Tina Turner, Flora Rurim & Airto Moreira, Paul Weller and Björk, to name a few. As a composer and orchestrator, he regularly writes for the BBC Big Band, the NDR Radio Big Band, the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, Airto Moreira & Flora Rurim, and for many European pop and wind ensembles, television and radio channels. Sir James Galway, the world-famous flautist, performed Mower’s works on his record “Tango Del Fuego”.