Born in Willesden, northwest London on 18 December 1962, Paul Weinreb began playing piano at the age of 10 (and guitar at 14). By the late 1970s, inspired by Scott Joplin, Joe Sample and Herbie Hancock, he was writing music and playing in his own jazz-funk band.
After
earning a BSC in Mathematical Physics at Sussex University he became an integral
member of the 17-piece Phunk Lawds, seen on Channels 4’s 01 for London.
He also played keyboards in small jazz ensembles and worked on compositions
that can still be heard on the radio today.
Following the completion of a Masters in Scientific Computing, Weinreb became a sought-after session musician. His many recorded keyboards credits from this time include 4hero’s ‘Two Pages’ album and remixes of Terry Callier’s ‘Theme from Spartacus’ and 'Black Gold of the Sun'. He played gigs at venues such as the Jazz Café and Dingwalls with a range of musicians, from PP ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’ Arnold to rising sax star Gilad Atzmon. He also started teaching music.
By 1997 he had formed the band Tarantula. This scintillating six-piece band (keyboards, drums, bass, guitar, sax and percussion, with the frequent addition of Quentin Collins on trumpet) was a brilliant vehicle for Weinreb’s compositions. In its early incarnation the band featured such artists as Heatwave drummer Bilbo Berger (drums); it was later joined by big-name trumpeter Claude Deppa and hailed on Jazz FM by Helen Mayhew.
In addition to his own projects, Weinreb has become a mainstay (on guitar) of Deppa’s African Music Explosion, featuring on the superb ‘Toi Toi’ album and touring throughout the UK and at prestigious London venues such as the Royal Festival Hall. Internationally, he has enjoyed great success with South African legends Lucky Ranku and Pinese Saul in cities as diverse as Istanbul and Cape Town. The band recently supported Pharaoh Sanders at London’s Barbican.
In 2004, Weinreb’s World Jazz Trio (with bassist Jimmy Martinez and drummer Saleem Raman) showcased his compositions at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at a well-received gig headlined by Billy Cobham. Though he has recently interpreted standards by the likes of Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson, a more likely pointer to Weinreb’s future direction could be seen on the BBC’s 2006 programme ‘A Child of Our Times’. Here, on national television, and together with Deppa and drummer Brian Abrahams, Weinreb showed his talent as one of the most interesting jazz-piano improvisers of our times.
Tarantula
played the Fishgard Jazz festival in Wales in September 2006.
The World Jazz Trio played the Royal Festival Hall, May 26, 2006