Piano · double bass · drums
Nick Allum Trio
The Nick Allum Trio is a London jazz piano trio — Gabriel Keen on piano, Simon Thorpe on double bass, Nick Allum on drums — playing standards with a modern feel.
Sets draw on the American songbook and range through bebop, hard bop and bossa nova to the occasional soul song: music from Rodgers and Hart to Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Stevie Wonder. The arrangements are the trio's own, opening familiar tunes up with contemporary harmony and grooves and leaving room to improvise.
Demo recordings
Four demos, recorded by the trio. The full set is on SoundCloud ↗.
Upcoming gigs
- Fri, 18 September 2026 City Place, Wanstead ↗ 18.30 - 21.00
The trio
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Simon Thorpe
Double bass
Simon lives in London and regularly plays on the UK music scene, having been nominated twice for a British Jazz Award. He studied bass with Jeff Clyne at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and has played with many well-known UK musicians including Jimmy Hastings, Bobby Wellins, John Etheridge, Trevor Tomkins, Jim Mullen and Phil Lee. He also writes songs and music for a number of his own projects.
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Gabriel Keen
Piano
Gabriel studied classical piano at Dartington College of Arts and the London College of Music, and was a prizewinner at the 5th British Contemporary Piano Competition. He has recorded works by contemporary composers Enid Luff, Julia Usher and Brian Inglis, and has worked with many jazz, soul and pop artists including Jon Owen, The Tiger Lillies, the Michele Drees Jazz Tap Project, Errol Kennedy's Imagination, Grace Kennedy and Maiuko Quarteto.
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Nick Allum
Drums
Nick attended Berklee College of Music and became heavily involved in community jazz education, as well as performing, in London, working with John Stevens, Courtney Pine and others. He toured and recorded with indie rock bands The Apartments and The Fatima Mansions, and — juggling a parallel career as a sociology academic — continued through the noughties to play and record with Irish singer-songwriter Cathal Coughlan and on contemporary classical projects with cellist Audrey Riley.
Bookings
For bookings and enquiries: nallum@essex.ac.uk