Billy Marrows

Press

Live Reviews:

"Marrows’ melodic intuition always shone through"

"Comprised of big characters and full of improvisational flair"

Jazzwise review of Grande Família playing 'Penelope' live at a sold-out Vortex Jazz Club, 13 Sept 2024

"Hearing Billy Marrows' Grande Família a second time is on the 'to do' list"

Bebop Spoken Here review of Grande Família live at Scarborough Jazz Festival, 28 Sept 2025

"While original compositions can be problematic for listeners unaccustomed to the music, this didn’t happen here. The music’s contemporary chamber-jazz content, infused with Latin and classical strains, was highly melodic"

Jazz Journal review of Grande Família live at Scarborough Jazz Festival, 28 Sept 2025

"He offers something rare: a body of work that is both deeply personal and utterly universal...book early"

Monica Costa, London Mums Magazine review of day two of the sold-out two-night Grande Família live album launch at Pizza Express Jazz Club on 28-29 April 2025

"With the likes of Billy Marrows, Emma Rawicz and Trish Cowes already confirmed, it’s one not to be missed"

Jazzwise Scarborough Jazz Festival 2025 preview

Press and features for Billy's live album The Penelope Album Live, released 28th March 2025:

"It's Marrows' skill as a writer and arranger to move between lustrous big band orchestrations and intimate duo and trio episodes with ease...A celebration of life"

★★★★ Jazzwise (UK)

"This live album magnifies the invention, charm and compositional strength of the original while being different enough and strong enough to stand on its own"

★★★★ All About Jazz

"66 minutes of grace, beauty, and fire make for a joyful listen...at once astonishing and beautiful, full of life, brilliance and energy, with each part of the ensemble playing a pivotal role without a single note going to waste"

Peter Thelen, Exposé

"This band in full flight must be a sight to behold as the aural majesty is wonderful. Modern jazz being taken in melodic new directions, this is a delight"

Kev Rowland, House of Prog (New Zealand)

"A grand orchestral work that draws parallels with Gil Evans and David Axelrod. Harmony and melody form the axis around which everything unfolds. Don't expect big band extravaganzas, but rather an Apollonian whole. Ideal for upscale venues where both classical and jazz are on the bill"

Georges Tonla Briquet, JAZZHALO (Belgium)

"Overall, we could label this work by Marrows as a classy "fusion" reminiscent of composers like Frisell or Metheny. It's certainly music that delivers good vibes and a general feeling of intimacy and pleasantness, albeit with some hints of veiled melancholy"

Filippo Focosi, Kathodik (translated from Italian)

"Billy’s guitar when heard solo also holds a melancholy and poignancy that affects the listener"

Mr Olivetti, FREQ Magazine

"Maybe one of the answers is to do what’s going on here, totally ignore the trap those six strings present. Surround yourself with multiple colours, simply sing off the strings. Watch out for Billy Marrows"

Steve Day

"I love its creative use of dissonance and heavy rhythmical interaction"

Soweto Kinch describing 'Be Right Bold' on BBC Radio 3 'Round Midnight

Press and features for Billy's EP Mount Tibidabo, released 29th November 2024:

"Marrows plays with such lyrical melodicism...you can't help but be seduced into his charmed world"

★★★★ Jazzwise

"A superb follow-up to his debut album ‘Penelope’, the EP features some of the UK’s finest up-and-coming talent”

Ruth Fisher, Jazz FM

"You get drawn into the way he uses space, letting each chord and sound resonate for emotional effect”

Soweto Kinch, BBC Radio 3 Boxing Day 2024 'Round Midnight episode

'Mount Tibidabo' Song of the Day

All About Jazz

'Mount Tibidabo' Video of the Day

Jazzwise

Press and features for Billy's debut album Penelope, released 26th January 2024:

SHORTLISTED FOR ALBUM OF THE YEAR IN THE PARLIAMENTARY JAZZ AWARDS 2025

"An exhilaratingly original sound, at once intimate and expansive"

★★★★ Editor's Choice JAZZWISE (UK)

Taking Off Feature | Review | Editor's Choice best albums of February 2024

"The album is a triumph...with his Grande Família project, Marrows has created a spectacular new ensemble" Jazz Views (UK)

"A highly successful fund raising venture the album is also an impressive musical achievement in its own right. The music coheres remarkably effectively with Marrows himself the unifying force"

★★★★ The Jazz Mann (UK)

"What I really like about the album is how its 10 separate pieces, for all their variety of means and approach, behave as though they belong together, like a family"

Richard Williams, The Blue Moment

"Melodic and distinctive...an album of inventive and contemporary chamber-jazz that serves as a worthy tribute and aids a worthy cause"

★★★★ All About Jazz

"Gorgeous chamber jazz LP"

Bandcamp (US) New and Notable feature

"Arranged by Marrows, the chamber-esque piece utilizes flute (Dijan Mbanu) and trombone (Olli Martin) to great effect, as well as sighing group vocals, which conjure classic bossa nova antecedents"

JAZZIZ Magazine (US)

"UK jazz artists whose creativity was aired last Thursday included dazzling guitarist Bill Marrows on L’Heroisme"

UK Jazz News review of the first week of BBC Radio 3's 'Round Midnight

"A really evocative and almost cinematic piece with so many twists and turns, and he paints so many colours I almost forgot the absence of drums"

Soweto Kinch, BBC Radio 3's 'Round Midnight 'Round Midnight episode

"Billy Marrows and Grande Família Pizza Express Jazz Club, London Monday 13 May. Playing music from guitarist Billy Marrows' poignant album, Penelope"

Marlbank top UK and Irish gigs this week (13th May 2024)

JAZZWISE Taking Off feature February 2024

JAZZWISE "A Grande Família" single/video premiere September 2023

All About Jazz - Song of the Day "L'Heroïsme"

UK Jazz News interview about the Penelope album

Jazz Views Take Five Q&A

JAZZIZ podcast episode about the Penelope album

Live interview and performance on BBC Radio York

Interview | Performance

Jazz at Morley podcast episode about the Penelope album

"L'Heroïsme" closed BBC Radio 3 JRR's New Year New Music 2024 episode

"L'Heroïsme" played on Jazzurekcje by Rafał Bryndal on Polish radiojazz.fm

VerhoovensJazz Jazz Albums February 2024

1hr show about the Penelope album on Catalunya Música's Via Jazz

The Press, York - print interview about the Penelope album

Gazette and Herald, Ryedale - front page feature on weekly paper