David England

Portrait of David England taken at Gloucester Cathedral during an international sculpture exhibition, 25 October 2014.

By Garry Corbett

My intention has always been to include subjects in my Stolen Moments project who live outside of the jazz world but have the influence and thread of jazz running through their lives. David England is one such subject.

Artist David England was born in Old Hill in the Black Country in 1954. His grandparents and beyond were nail and chain makers. David has lived in Birmingham, Liverpool and Pembrokeshire and for the past 20 years has lived and worked in rural Herefordshire.

His artistic working life has embraced a number of disciplines and mediums. Much of his current work is in stone as a sculptor for galleries and exhibitions. He runs annual sculpture workshops for 15-year-olds in local schools. His two dimensional artworks include drawings, paintings and illustration. These include commissioned designs for The Globe Theatre and Natural History Museum. He is the author of a recent graphic novel migdante.com He has made a number of films on 8 mm, 16 mm and digital, including composing their soundtracks.

He is not only an artist but a musician. Musical activities have embraced folk, playing bass with the jazz fusion band Pangaea, and composing for theatre productions and his own installations. He is currently drawn back to his folk roots playing whistle and mandola with a local ceilidh band. During his 60th birthday celebration last years he played percussion in a jazz trio.

Take Five

David recommends the following 5-a-day.

1 Sweetnighter by Weather Report. Mainly chosen for the infectious
rhythms and more free-form playing on this album.
2 Waka Jawaka by Frank Zappa. To quote the chap himself: “Nothing new is
created without deviation.”
3 Titus Groan and Gormenghast – from the trilogy of novels by Mervyn Peake.
4 Amelie or anything by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Few movies get anywhere
near perfection but I think his films often come close.
5 Hellboy – The Troll Witch and Other Stories. The creative genius
that is Mike Mignola. As good an artist as any I can think of.

Photo and words © Garry Corbett

More about David England can be found on his website here.