A number of jazz musicians are celebrated in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2018: Video

A number of jazz musicians are celebrated in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2018, published yesterday. Vibraphone player, bandleader and arranger Orphy Robinson and trombonist Dennis Rollins have both been awarded MBE’s while pianist and broadcaster Julian Joseph is recognised with an OBE.

Speaking to Nigel Williams on Jazz FM yesterday, Orphy said he was “speechless… It was a bit of a shock with this very official looking envelope – I thought ‘what have I done!?”. He is receiving his award for not just his substantial contribution to British Jazz, but also his decades of work in the community. “I’ve mainly been putting music back into Hackney where I grew up” he says “I’ve always worked with the community there with projects, and I led the music at the Hackney Empire for about 15 years and we’ve had fantastic success with the young people coming through there who have gone off to do RADA, or West End Shows or make their own groups. I’m also lucky enough to have worked in music education up and down the country.”

Other honours from the world of music include Gillian Moore (Director of Music at London’s Southbank Centre) and Kanya King (CEO and founder of the MOBO Awards); both women receive CBE’s.