Magic Mountain

A quartet of musicians from across the country and generations, celebrating the timeless music that brought them together. This quartet will perform a variety of compositions by members of the band and their favourite composers, including Thelonious Monk and Keith Jarrett.

Steve Berry

After two years studying Fine Art, Steve Berry's professors noticed he was

mostly absent from his workspace, busy writing songs back in his lodgings.

In 1977 they invited him to take a year out with the words “We think you might

actually be a musician.”

Now in his 47th gap year, it seems they were right.

A sequence of amazing fluke events - including encountering Jazz for the first

time in his life - soon saw Steve move to London (in 1979), taking up double

bass. There he became deeply embroiled in composing, arranging and

improvising music, eventually becoming a founding member of the iconclastic

21 piece not-really-a-big-band, Loose Tubes.

Since that time he moved north to Lancashire, and his freelance playing career

increasingly came to include sharing improvisational knowledge and skills with

emerging generations.

That is now his main driving passion, becoming Head of Jazz & Improvisation at

the RNCM in Manchester in 2019.

His playing and composing career has continued and he still performs

internationally, mostly thanks to his long creative association with Mike and

Kate Westbrook.

(photo Svetlana)

Hans Koller - Pianist, composer, and arranger born in Landshut, Germany in 1970. Resident in London since 1991, he studied ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and also jazz composition with Mike Gibbs and Bob Brookmeyer. Koller has played and worked with Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Phil Woods, Harry Becket, Kenny Wheeler, Bill Frisell, Steve Swallow, Jeff Williams, the BBC Big Band, the NDR Big Band, and the WDR Big Band. He is part of the Jazz Department at Trinity Laban in London where he teaches composition, arranging, and improvisation.

Louis Koller - Trombonist (valve and slide) and pianist born in London in 2012, joint Julian Joseph's Jazz Academy and World Heart Beat at a young age.

Taught and mentored by trombonist and composer Wilf Diamond, he has played with Byron Wallen at the Vortex and also worked with Tom Challenger.

He was a semi-finalist at the 2024 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, playing with Steve Watts, Rod Youngs, and Robert Mitchell.

Sam Nicholls -

Hailing from the Lake District, Sam carved his drumming from an early age under the tutelage of Dave Hassell and the fresh mountain air. Prior to moving to London, he was the Principal Percussionist of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and was part of the National Youth Jazz Collective. He is currently in is final year studying Jazz at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

He has worked with Byron Wallen, Hans Koller, Xhosa Cole, Tony Kofi, Michael Formanek and has a residency at the Albany Arts Centre in Deptford. Sam is currently under the mentorship of James Maddren, Mike Williams and Steve Williamson.