biography
Karen took up the tenor saxophone whilst studying composition at the Royal Northern College of Music. A friend introduced her to a recording of Dexter Gordon and she was instantly hooked, quickly joining the college jazz band and finding regular work in a busy soul band based in Liverpool. Since relocating to London in 1999 Karen has become a busy freelance musician working alongside many top class British and American musicians such as Scott Hamilton, Sir John Dankworth, Danny Moss, Alan Barnes, Barbara Lea, Dick Sudhalter, Joe Temperley, Mark Nightingale, Annie Whitehead, Ellyn Rucker, Roy Williams, Tina May, Nikki Iles, Scott Robinson, Ken Peplowski and the great blues singer Elkie Brooks.
In March 2004 Karen began a three year stint in Humphrey Lyttelton’s band, which took her to venues and festivals across the UK and into Europe. During this time Karen was also working hard to establish her own quintet with which she has now produced three albums and played at top jazz venues in the UK. Karen played at the Ginza Festival, Tokyo in 2006 with British singer Tina May and pianist Nikki Iles, and more recently Karen has been working closely with South African singer Esther Miller, with whom she appeared at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2007, along with US trumpet star Jeremy Pelt.
Karen has recently released her third album for "33 Records" entitled "Wait And See" and featuring her regular band of Adrian Fry on trombone, John Day on bass, Richard Busiakiewicz on piano and John Perry on drums. She has also featured on Humphrey Lyttelton’s latest three albums on baritone sax, tenor sax and as a composer/arranger, and she made a guest appearance on George Melly’s last album along with Jackie Dankworth and Van Morrison.
So far in 2008, Karen has been busy playing in the UK and Europe. She is writing new material for her band, as well as collaborating with pianist Nikki Iles and planning her next album.
read more: http://www.karensharp.net/biog.htm
