Bancroft was co-founder of the ground-breaking John Rae Collective, an Edinburgh based sextet which turned the Scottish jazz scene on it's head in the late-80's, and won great praise wherever they played. Phil was the band's principal composer, and his inventiveness gave their music much of its distinctive flair.

Phil takes his musical convictions into all areas of music:

• from playing township jazz in Cape Town, with Winston 'Ngozi' Mankunku,
• to travelling the spaceways-jamming with the Sun Ra Arkestra at the Edinburgh Festival,
• to a shake hands-walk on-and-start hour long free improvisation set with Ernst Reisinger (Clusone Trio) and Steve Noble,
• to heartfelt jazz ballads with singing star Carol Kidd.
• From Drum'n'Bass/ Jungle/ Funk with Kevin Mackenzie's Swirler in Edinburgh's underground dance scene,
• to being a featured soloist in two Kenny Wheeler suites with the Tommy Smith-led Scottish National Jazz orchestra,
• filling the Johnny Hodges chair on ballads such as Star-Crossed Lovers, in Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder, and taking barnstorming solos in the Paul Gonsalves chair in the Far East Suite,
• to the eclectic range of electro-acoustic improvisation environments provided by Trio AAB, with brother Tom Bancroft on drums and bodrhan, and Kevin Mackenzie on guitar/ guitar synth.
  

He is firmly established as one of Scotland's leading creative musicians, and is taking his music to a wider audience with an exciting new album, released on Scotland's new creative jazz label, Caber Music, in January 1999.

This exhilarating international group featured on Phil's debut CD, Swings and Roundabouts, brings together his powerful inventive tenor playing with an explosive rhythm section of English bass-player Steve Watts, and American drummer Marcello Pellitteri, on a set of superb contemporary jazz compositions.

These range from hauntingly beautiful folk-tinged ballads, to mesmerising melodic group improvisations, to driving township grooves, to powerful swing, augmented by imaginative reworkings of classic jazz standards from Duke and Bird.

These are three of the finest young players around. Steeped in the traditions of jazz, their own powerfully individual identities complement each other in a dynamic new ensemble.

Recent Work

In the first half of 1999, Phil co-led a groundbreaking jazz education project in Inverness for schoolkids, and taught on the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland residential course and the Napier University Jazz Summer School.

He has performed at the Soundcheck festival in Glasgow, with his own trio, featuring special guest Don Paterson( Lammas) on guitar, performed at the inaugural Celtic Festival in Las Palmas, Gran Canarias, and appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival with Drones in the Bones, a Scottish-Dutch free imporvisation/folk project, led by Jorrit Dijkstra.

He featured in the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, with trio AAB, Kevin Mackenzie's Swirler, and John Rae's Celtic feet, and performed in a live broadcast from the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, in Bobby Watson's Octet, featuring Joe Temperley, Ingrid Jensen, and Greg Hutchinson.

He accompanied Carol Kidd at the Nairn Jazz Festival, and featured in Tommy Smith's Scottish National Jazz Orchestra at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

In BBC Radio's Music Live festival, he appeared on four broadcasts, including folk concertina player Simon Thoumire's Parliament Piece, commisioned for the opening of the new Scottish Parliament, and an hour long live broadcast with Trio AAB for Radio Three's Jazz on Three.

He featured on the debut album of top folk fiddler Charlie Mckerron (Capercaillie) new band Big Sky, for Survival Records.

He completed a commission from Urban Dance Theatre for the soundtrack to a breakdance/tapdance contemporary dance piece, Headstrong, and performed with improvising contemporary dancer Iona Kewney at the Edinburgh Festival.

Phil is visiting Singapore in December 1999, will perform in New Orleans in Jan 2000, with Eddie Severn Quintet, and will be touring in Madrid and Barcelona with a Quartet co-led by John Rae.