Hilary Jeffery is a self-proclaimed ‘desert trombonist’ and composer, born in Surbiton, England in 1971. A central and sustaining influence on his music is a sense of ‘silent space’, which he first experienced in the Sahara Desert in the 1990s. Hilary aims to share this experience, creating inner-spaces for listeners and fellow musicians to explore via the medium of his ensemble LYSN. He studied at Dartington College of Arts, University of York, European Dance Development Centre Arnhem and Royal Conservatory Den Haag, and has worked for more than twenty years as a musician playing in many different styles and areas of music including rock, techno, electronica, jazz, pop, afrobeat, contemporary classical and free improvisation. Groups he has played with between 1994 and 2016 include: zeitkratzer, CC Hennix and The Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, Zinc & Copper, Tonaliens, The Barton Workshop, Mir8, Jimi Tenor Big Band, Paul Dunmall Octet, Sand and Germ. Hilary’s principal teacher and mentor for trombone playing is James Fulkerson, with whom he studied between 1998 and 2000. In 2013 he started a study of Dhrupad with Amelia Cuni, aiming to apply techniques of this Indian classical music tradition to the trombone. He has received composition commissions for Slagwerk Den Haag, GRM Acousmonium, David Kweksilber Big Band, Apa Ini and Lysn. He has been invited for artistic residences such as at Recollets in Paris (2012), won composition prizes such as the Henriette Bosmans Prize (Netherlands, 2009) and appears in many different recordings on various labels including Aquarellist, Col Legno, FMR, Dilemma, Important Records, Mikroton, New World Records, Soul Jazz, Sloow Tapes, Sub Rosa, Zeitkratzer Records and Karl Records.
As of January 2017