Young Artist Interview: Emile Hinton (Pianist and Composer)
Pianist and composer Emile Hinton is a rising star in the UK jazz scene. A student of Trinity Laban and artists including Tony Kofi, Steve Williamson and Byron Wallen, Emile joined the Company’s Young Artist programme after scooping The Tina May Jazz Award 2023. Emile shares his journey as a budding young jazz pianist to performing at iconic venues such as the Vortex and Ronnie Scott’s.
What drew you to jazz piano?
My dad would play me all sorts of jazz during car journeys when I was young, I started classical piano when I was around eight and the alto sax at around 11. Living in Cornwall there weren’t many opportunities to play jazz with other people, however I did start going to CYJO (Cornwall Youth Jazz Orchestra) when I was around 14 and I ended up being 1st alto sax in the band. While I enjoyed playing the sax I started to really fall in love with the piano when I started lessons with a piano teacher called Cecil Du Valle (Teddy Pendergrass, The O’Jays, Womack & Womack). His enthusiasm and style of teaching resonated a lot with me – he taught me how to play the blues. Cecil would give me charts of different jazz standards, but also get me to play to popular songs coming out at the time. He recognised the importance of being able to function as a pianist not only in a jazz context but to all sorts of different music. I remember him giving me a chart of ‘Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk’ and being completely overwhelmed with the amount of chords on the sheet. He wrote out how to play each chord while convincing me that one day I would be able to understand and process each chord. He’s still a massive inspiration to me and the main reason I fell in love with playing jazz piano.
How did you get into the London jazz scene?
I arrived in London from Cornwall in October 2018. The first year there I found it quite hard to break into the scene. I was working as a live-in carer for a family member and didn’t have many friends in the city. I applied to do a bachelor’s in Jazz Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and was accepted, so from Sept 2019 I started studying there. Being at a conservatoire is a great way to become part of a music community , and through that finding ways of building your own connections outside of that conservatoire bubble. From there things grew organically for me as I am quite an outgoing person that loves to socialise and take every opportunity to play at jams and sessions. Opportunities to play with people of notoriety were a big help in solidifying my name within the scene.
My advice to anyone trying to get into the London jazz scene is that whilst being at a conservatoire was helpful to me, it was not the reason I feel I am part of the scene. Being a member of the music community and going to gigs and jams, and organising playing sessions with different people are what truly cements your name within the scene.
Who have you had the pleasure of performing alongside?
There are so many peers of mine that I feel honoured to play with, although every time I play it’s a privilege regardless of who it’s with. Right now, playing with the members of my piano trio: Toby Yapp – Double Bass & Kai MacRae – Drums is a wonderful experience. They’re both incredible musicians and I feel us getting better together as a trio with each gig we do.
One ‘cat’ I’ve been really enjoying playing with recently is trombonist James Wade-Sired, who participated in the final of the Tina May Award 2023 alongside me. I’m writing this having just done a gig with him for the NYJO Art Blakey project. Last week I also played in his quintet. James is a musician with an unreal ability who holds the music and the ritual of playing in a very high regard.
A big privilege has been the opportunity to be part of Jazz Messenger Jean Toussaint’s Quartet (Art Blakey, Cedar Walton, Max Roach etc.) since July 2022. It’s hard to put into words how incredible it feels to be playing with someone who is truly at the heart of the history of the music and has connections to so many of my musical heroes. I’m very lucky to be able to perform alongside him regularly. Art Blakey’s band ‘The Messengers’ always had younger members that Art would give opportunities to and I feel that Jean is continuing this legacy by booking young musicians like myself. It’s a privilege to be part of that lineage.
What’s your most memorable performance?
There are so many but one of my most memorable performances involved playing two nights at PizzaExpress Live (Soho) with tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford (Ellington Orc, Mingus, McCoy Tyner etc.) in his quartet. It was a very cathartic experience for me as he has been a friend of my dad’s for a long time and even taught me some saxophone when I was much younger. To have organised bringing him over to the UK to play was a very proud moment for me.
Performing with us were two heavyweights of the London Jazz Scene: Larry Bartley – Double Bass and Rod Youngs – Drums. I was very lucky to be able to share a stage with them.
Who and what inspires your compositions?
This is quite a difficult question as it’s quite rare for me to feel a direct inspiration for a single piece that I’ve written. Often I compose at the piano and pieces seem to fall out of me. When that happens I look at it as an amalgamation of the music I love, what’s going on in my life at the time and how I’m feeling in the moment.
My inspirations are there in the work, but I’m not worried about trying to decipher why or what drove me to do something. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now I guess I can just be thankful that something has even come out of me to begin with!
Some of the musicians that inspire me include:
Sonny Clark, Thelonious Monk, Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner, John Coltrane, P-Funk, Ohio Players, Milton Nascimento, Novos Baianos, Sufjan Stevens, Les Filles De Illighadad, King Sunny Ade, Wayne Shorter, Teddy Wilson, Nat King Cole, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Afel Bocoum but I could go on… Get in touch with me if you want to hear more!
Has winning The Tina May Jazz Award helped your career?
Massively so, I think it’s very much solidified my name within the scene as someone who can really play. I’ve had lots of people within the scene congratulate me, or know who I am when I might not know them due to the award.
On a personal level this award was really a moment for me to look at the undeniable fact that I’ve come very far and I am a great musician. Self-deprecation is so prevalent in young jazz musicians, me included, so receiving this award was a positive reinforcement to keep going and get as good as I can be.
Other parts of the industry also took notice, some articles on Jazzwise and London Jazz News were written up, and people approached me asking if I had anything to play on the radio. Realising I had nothing proper out with my own name on it I decided to record my debut trio album: Emile Hinton Trio. I recorded it in January and without winning the award I don’t think I would’ve had that push and motivation to do it. I’m very thankful that things fell into place in that way.
What’s the best advice anyone’s given you?
I can’t remember who said this to me but it is a general piece of advice that I feel everyone in my position should hear:
‘It’s all there on the record’
Everything that you need to feel, hear or understand is on the record. It’s just about making sure you know how to translate that onto your instrument, which is where the practice comes in.
Make no mistake, there is no way of truly playing jazz until you fall in love with the recordings and become obsessed and form your own relationship of understanding and enjoyment with the material. At least that’s true from my perspective, there’s no way I could do this all otherwise!
What upcoming projects or performances are you particularly excited about?
I’ve just come back from playing the Steinway 2-Piano Festival (PizzaExpress Jazz Club, Soho) with another great young pianist called Sultan Stevenson. And I’m very much looking forward to playing there again for my Musicians’ Company winner’s gig on July 8th – that’ll be a project called Emile Hinton with Strings. I’m also very excited to be releasing my debut album, hopefully within 2024 or early 2025.
From September to December this year I will be studying in New York for a term at the Tribeca Jazz Institute, an intensive course with a strong focus on playing the American song book and the tradition of the music.
You can find out more about Emile at inktr.ee/emilehinton and on Instagram @emilehinton1
Interview by Suzy Willmott
Suzy is freelance copywriter who works with the Musicians’ Company