Misty’s Big Adventure are heartbroken to announce the death of their friend, musician, composer, songwriter and band leader Gareth Jones, aka Grandmaster Gareth. He died at his home in Birmingham, UK. He was 41.
We shared this terrible news on our Facebook and Instagram pages late on Thursday night, as soon as we felt able to express our grief in words:
To all the lovely fans of Misty’s Big Adventure, we have some very sad and difficult news to share with you all.
Gareth sadly passed away on Sunday.
He left us the day after a truly joyous home gig at the Hare & Hounds where we were surrounded by pure love and friendship. To everyone who has attended our gigs, shared in our performances, listened to our music and given us so much in return we are overwhelmingly grateful, and we shall never forget you. We made something beautiful. We are so sorry to have to share this devastating news with you all.
Gareth, the world is truly changed without you.
All our love to you at this difficult time. Please take care and reach out to friends, family and the people you love. Share your burden.
Grandmaster Gareth’s band – our band – Misty’s Big Adventure – was founded in Birmingham, UK, in 1996. We were teenagers. Most of us are in our forties now. The band was our life, our family, our creative purpose. We released five studio albums, numerous tour CDs, a Best Of compilation, and were due to begin work on our next album. We performed live all over the UK and Europe, and met so many wonderful people, and we hope that we added a splash of joyful colour to this world with our music.
The late great John Peel was a supporter of Gareth’s music, commissioning a Peel Session Monster Melody and famously declaring Gareth to be “the new God”.
In addition to his work with Misty’s Big Adventure, and releasing a series of solo albums, Grandmaster Gareth collaborated with many artists including Broadcast, Jeff Lewis, Pram, The Zutons, The Retro Spankees, Dog Food, Brute Force, Kimya Dawson, Noddy Holder, Gruff Rhys, and Sir Patrick Moore. He was Musical Director for the Creation Theatre Company, Oxford, for whom he composed a number of scores and musical arrangements. He wrote the theme tunes for Dave Gorman’s BBC2 series Genius and for Jimmy Carr’s Comedy Cuts on BBC Radio 2. He also composed music for video games, including Pool Panic, Loot Rascals, and Surgeon Simulator 2. His community music projects with adults and children in Birmingham were a joy he embraced whenever the opportunity arose.
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