Led by trumpeter Laura Jurd (BBC New Generation Artist 2015-17), Dinosaur's highly acclaimed second album Wonder Trail (released May 2018) saw the band on a journey of mesmerising new compositions of folk-infused themes and glorious melodies, tied together with extemporisation and improvisation.
Receiving a rare 5-star review in the Guardian for their 2016 debut album Together, As One they have toured extensively in Europe and beyond, performing at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals including: North Sea Jazz, Montreal Jazz Festival and Molde International Jazz Festival.
In 2016, the Festival commissioned Laura to write the Ellington-inspired Jump Cut Shuffle, which was performed by the Ligeti Quartet. She wrote all of the music Dinosaur will perform during this concert.
Described by All About Jazz as a musician who 'embraces melody, harmony and groove as much as she provokes with blasts of dissonance and gutsy angularity’, Laura Jurd is an award-winning British trumpet player/composer/bandleader who has developed a formidable reputation as one of the most creative young musicians to emerge from this country in recent years.
Laura has written music for the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Ligeti Quartet and the Northern Sinfonia. She has earned commissions from BBC Radio 3 and the EFG London Jazz Festival. She recently joined Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance as a teacher of composition. In 2015 Laura received the Parliamentary Jazz Award for ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’.