SAY YES TO THE MESS
Magna Carta was a grand attempt to clear up the mess between The King of England and his rebel lords. It became the foundation of modern governance and civil liberty
The decisive British victory at Waterloo put an end to the bloody mess of Napoleonic conquest and led to the development of nation states, allowing Great Britain to secure its world empire and promote the most prosperous century in history.
In the future, project managers with need to deal with conflict, complexity and change. To succeed, managers need to think on their feet and respond in the moment to shifting realities.
In ‘Say Yes to the Mess,’ jazz musician Jack Pinter and a live band of master improvisers will reveal how the secrets of jazz music can help project managers explore inventive approaches to uncertainty, crisis and challenge.
While grooving incessantly, they’ll demonstrate how to perform and experiment simultaneously; how to design for serendipity and expand the horizons of possibility: how apparent mistakes can become opportunities for invention.
While raising the roof of the Armourer’s Hall, they’ll show you how to ‘fake it till you make it,’ in your next role.
In the words of heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ Discover how jazz musicians take the punch and hit back, saying ‘Yes to the Mess.’
Jack Pinter [Band Leader]
Jack Pinter is the Director of Square One, which delivers innovative learning initiatives, projects and events designed to transform and revitalise the world of work. Recent clients include Cisco, Moody’s Analytics, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and ING and business schools across the USA and Europe.
Jack began his career as a musician, and has appeared recently with Yoko Ono, Boy George and Siouxsie Sioux. He has toured with diva Marianne Faithfull and Tim Robbins, with whom he headlined at the Blues festivals across Canada, the USA and Australia. Jack has also played with a wide range of artists including Tom Waits, Anastacia, Dizzy Gillespie, and blues legend Joe Williams.
Jack has composed music for film, television and for productions by The Royal National Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange and Nottingham Playhouse, and many other theatre companies.
Jim Fleeman [drums]
Jim has led a varied and extensive career, working with artists such as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Mark Eitzel, Kenny Wheeler, Omar, Damon Albarn, Sir Willard White, Mike Figgis and the Halle Orchestra.
He has played on several BBC 1 & 2 and Sky television series and has worked on theatre productions including Damon Albarn’s ‘Monkey: Journey to the West’ and the RSC’s award-winning ‘Matilda the Musical’.
Jim has been working with Will Todd since 1999 and has played on the recordings of ‘Mass In Blue’, ‘Te Deum’, ‘Jazz Evensong’ and ‘Songs of Peace’, also performing those works extensively around the UK and on BBC radio.
Will Todd [piano]
Will Todd’s flagship work is the jazz mass setting Mass in Blue, which has been performed hundreds of times around the world since its 2003 premiere, on many occasions with the Will Todd Trio and Will at the piano.
The larger Will Todd Ensemble has also recorded Mass in Blue with the Vasari Singers for Signum Records. His anthem The Call of Wisdom was commissioned by St Paul’s Cathedral for the Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving Service where it was performed by the Diamond Choir.
Other notable works include opera The Blackened Man which won second prize in the International Verdi Opera Competition, and was subsequently staged at the Buxton Festival; oratorio Saint Cuthbert which has been performed many times and recorded by the Hallé Orchestra; music theatre work The Screams of Kitty Genovese, produced most recently by Tête á Tête Opera in London and Edinburgh; and a cantata about the Jarrow March – The Burning Road.
Recent projects include a setting of Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale for Hertfordshire Chorus, an opera Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Opera Holland Park, which is now in its third season, and the jazz carols album, Christmas in Blue. Crouch End Festival Chorus 30th Anniversary commission Rage Against the Dying of the Light premiered in March 2014 and new CD Lux et Veritas, featuring award-winning choir Tenebrae, was voted Number 3 best album of 2014 by Classic FM.
Will frequently visits the US to work with a variety of different choirs, giving masterclasses and performances with them on a regular basis.
Michael Curtis Ruiz
[Bass/Vocals/Percussion/Arranger/Composer]
Born in the Caribbean Island of Trinidad, he has collaborated/ performed/recorded with some fine Artistes and Entertainers & bands in the music industry worldwide.
To name a few: The Wailers, Boy George, Kylie Mynogue, Rita Marley, Da, Joe Higgs, Damon Albarn (Blur), Simon LeBond (Duran Duran), The Roaring Lion, Mighty Sparrow (Calypso King of the World) and The BBC Orchestra.
MCR has performed at various famous festivals and venues.
To name a few: WOMAD, London Jazz Festival, Montreaux Jazz Festival, Pan/Jazz Festival, Ealing Jazz Festival, The O2 Arena, Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee party, The Rockefeller Centre, The Latitude Festival…..
Featured in London’s West End in Will Baker’s interpretation of Rent ‘Remixed’ and ‘The Hurly Burly Show” at the Garrick Theatre.
Playing Acoustic (Double) and Electric bass Michael also plays percussion and sings, bringing 25+ years of musical experience to all of the situations in which he is involved.
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