Tuesday, 28 February, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Zoot Money's Big Roll Band

Fondly remembered by those of us of a certain age for 60's gigs at the Flamingo Club in Soho and Klooks Kleek, tonight we are priviledged to host the legendary Zoot Money. At school Zoot played the French horn and sang in the choir, life changed when he discovered Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, took up keyboard and, by the beginning of the 1960s, Hammond organ. In 1961 he formed the Big Roll Band playing soul, jazz and R&B. Famed far and wide for his combination of outrageous antics (including "shocking" trouser activity that predated PJ Proby by several years), tight musicianship and passionate vocal delivery. Zoot's countless musical associations include Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, Georgie Fame, Alan Price, Ruby Turner, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, Peter Green and Eric Burdon.

Tuesday, 21 February, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Township Comets

Following last year's triumphant gig, popular demand sees the welcome return of the Township Comets. Doubtless the roof will raise and the room will sway with the power and seduction of their sound. The Comets play the searing, joyous music of South African saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, a towering figure in township jazz and the European free scene. Chris Batchelor and Adam Glasser played with Pukwana in the ‘80’s. “I heard the Township Comets playing Dudu Pukwana's music, and Chris McGregor's legacy, and that was fantastic too. It was really like hearing those wonderful bands with Dudu in all over again.” John Fordham - BBC Jazz on 3 review of London Jazz Festival.
Simply unmissable.

Tuesday, 14 February, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Geoff Mason Quintet

Born in London, Geoff Mason studied trombone at London College of Music before moving on to join the regimental band of the Coldstream Guards. He played with the band for twelve years, during which time he toured Japan, Australia and America. Jo Fooks hails from Edinburgh where she won “Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year” before studying saxophone at the Guildhall School of Music and then Berklee School of Music in Boston. After recording her debut album 'Here and Now!', the legendary British trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton invited her to join his eight-piece band. "Jo Fooks confirmed my initial impression that she’s a seriously undervalued player with a fully ripened sound of her own and mature fluency..that she’s come so far while remaining largely unknown sets the mind boggling uncontrollably" - Humphrey Lyttelton.

Tuesday, 7 February, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£7 on the door

John Altman's Big Band

  • soprano sax, baritone sax & arrangements: John Altman
  • trumpets: Quentin Collins, Tony Fisher, Mike Henry & Noel Langley
  • trombones: Pete Beachill, Trevor Mires, Sarah Williams & Andy Wood
  • saxes: Sam Mayne, Claire Mcinerney, Bob Sydor, Matt Wates & Martin Williams
  • guitar: John Etheridge
  • piano: Barry Green
  • bass: Andy Cleyndert
  • drums: Ralph Salmins
Now something of an institution at the East Side, Emmy and BAFTA winning composer John Altman formed his big band in 1985. Dubbed "the best big band in the UK" by the Daily Telegraph, it is certainly the only big band to have performed on a number 1 worldwide hit single (Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet") and in 2 top 5 hit movies (Little Voice and Shall We Dance). With all material written and/or arranged by John and showcasing the star studded line up of great jazz soloists this should be as memorable a night as were the last five years' sold out performances. John's long playing career has seen him perform with jazz giants like Al Cohn, Jimmy Heath, Chet Baker, Bud Freeman and Joe Newman. John wishes to make it known that he has never won a BBC Jazz Award!

Tuesday, 31 January, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

  • Jim Mullen (guitar)
  • Ross Stanley (organ)
  • Clive Fenner (drums)
Glasgow born Jim Mullen is possibly best known for his long association with the legendary sax player Dick Morrisey. Their popular group Morrisey Mullen was at the forefront of the jazz-funk movement in the UK, producing seven albums. Jim has also gained acclaim backing vocalist Claire Martin on three albums. As a sideman he has been in demand by visiting U.S. stars like Gene Harris, Mose Allison, Jimmy Smith, Percy Sledge, Plas Johnson, Jimmy Witherspoon and Terry Callier. A dynamic and forceful player, his deep affinity with the blues gives his music a quality of earthy excitement.

Tuesday, 24 January, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

"Christian Brewer’s alto sound is light - though he can dig in when needed - and he is a remarkably fluent and craftsmanlike improviser. Though fresh ideas flow inexorably, Brewer is not tempted to waste notes despite his fluency, so that there’s a real sense of purpose about his work." - Peter Martin, Jazz UK (reviewing Cristian's CD 'Seesaw'). “Brewer and his precocious colleagues deliver a joyful brand of British neo-bop that swings with power, fluency and confidence” - Jack Massarick, London Evening Standard.

Tuesday, 17 January, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Jim Hart was born in Cornwall, and began learning piano and percussion at the age of four. In 1994 he went to Manchester to study at Chetham’s School of Music, then moved to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music where he began to focus mainly on playing jazz, both on drums and piano. On leaving the Guildhall, Jim became the drummer for NYJO and stayed with them for three years. During this time he also developed as a vibes player. Jim was the winner of a 2007 British Jazz award, the 2006 British Jazz award for 'Rising star' and the 2006 Worshipful Company of Musicians Jazz medal. "His vibes playing is a revelation" - Alyn Shipton, The Times." Hart has developed an impressively individual voice, using a four mallet technique that allows him to switch between pointed chords and mellifluous runs with ease" - Daniel Spicer, Jazzwise.

Tuesday, 10 January, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

John Horler is a highly respected pianist and composer who has earned a formidable reputation on the British jazz scene over many years. His credentials as a musician are as impeccable as they are diverse. As his reputation grew he found himself increasingly supporting American jazz stars such as Bob Brookmeyer, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Art Farmer, Pepper Adams, Bud Shank, and Shorty Rodgers. One of the most notable of these events was working with Chet Baker for a week at The Canteen in Great Queen Street.

Mark Nightingale is one of the most sought after session-musicians on the London scene. His rich and varied musical life has taken him from recording with Sting, Tom Jones, the Spice Girls and Robbie Williams to playing in the orchestras of Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand and Frank Sinatra. He has also performed in such esteemed jazz company as Clark Terry, Bill Holman, Slide Hampton, James Morrison and Ray Brown.

Tuesday, 3 January, 2012

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

  • Alan Barnes (alto & baritone saxes and clarinet)
  • Robin Aspland (piano)
  • Simon Thorpe (bass)
  • Clive Fenner (drums)
“Alan Barnes is the most reliably entertaining, multi-skilled reed virtuoso on the UK scene” - John Fordham, Guardian. Alan has enjoyed a prolific career, playing and recording for many bands. He has dominated the British Jazz Awards over the years, having won the alto sax section in 1993, 95, 97 & 99, the clarinet award for 94, 96 & 98 and being voted the top baritone player in 98, 2000 & 2002. In 2001 and 2006 Alan received the prestigious BBC Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year award and in November 2003 was made a fellow of the Leeds College of Music. 2003 also saw the inception of Alan’s own record label Woodville Records.

Tuesday, 13 December, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

He's back - easily one of our most anticipated gigs - the phenomenal, exciting, unpredictable musical genius that is Gilad Atzmon.
"Eschewing the political rhetoric, Atzmon now lets the music do the talking, relaxing into a skilful and witty dialogue with his versatile bandmates. Together they breathe new harmonic and rhythmic life into every composition they perform, transforming even the most well-worn jazz standards into scintillating originals - the true essence of real live jazz." "You get an awful lot of music with Gilad Atzmon: quotes from jazz standards, torch songs, ideas playfully purloined from Mediterranean or Middle Eastern sources, sultry Paris-cabaret smooches, New Orleans clarinet swing and bebop in hyperdrive. The Israeli reed virtuoso is acclaimed as one of the most original world-jazz specialists..” - John Fordham, The Guardian. "Atzmon is an astonishing musician with a seemingly effortless ability to demolish and rebuild any old tune he chooses to play" - John Lewis, Time Out.

Tuesday, 6 December, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Rob Townsend started playing the sax when he got fed up with carting drums around. A senior lecturer in Jazz at Middlesex University, he has performed with a broad range of leading musicians including Django Bates, Sam Rivers, Iain Ballamy, Tim Garland, Mark Lockheart and Bill Bruford. Rob has been a featured soloist with ex Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett for a number of years, touring internationally and recording a number of albums and DVDs. He’s also played on film and TV scores for Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck.
"..by turns playful, rhapsodic and irreverent, he injected an almost folksy sensibility into his solos, coaxing sunshine out of the most oblique chord progressions" - James Griffiths, The Guardian.

Tuesday, 29 November, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

As a saxophonist and composer, Mark Lockheart's work often defies categorisation and crosses the boundaries of the jazz, new music and folk worlds. Mark came to prominence in the mid 1980s with the influential and radical big band Loose Tubes, which he toured with throughout the USA and Europe and recorded with until its demise in 1989. In the mid-nineties Mark toured extensively with Django Bates' Delightful Precipice. Current projects include Mark Lockheart's In Deep, Seb Rochford's Polar Bear, Perfect Houseplants, Disassembler and Robert Wyatt’s Soup Songs. Voted ‘Parliamentary Jazz Musician of the Year’ for 2010, Mark's last CD 'Days Like These' features seven original compositions played by Mark with the NDR Big Band. "..this set certainly suggests Lockheart's first big-band album won't be his last" - John Fordham, The Guardian. "Lockheart's own soprano saxophone playing is a joy throughout" - Dave Gelly, The Observer.

Tuesday, 22 November, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Julian Siegel studied sax, clarinet and conducting at UEA, Norwich. Moving to London in 1991 he became known on his second instrument, the double bass. Now established as one of the most in-demand saxophonists on the scene and currently leading his own quartet on a UK tour, he's been involved with some influential British jazz groups and co-leads the inestimable quartet Partisans. A former winner of "Best Instrumentalist" at the BBC Jazz Awards 2007. “Siegel has taken a stride into a different musical league as both a player and a composer...This is a set that, if it doesn’t put Siegel’s name in lights, will certainly crank up the wattage” - John Fordham, Guardian.

Tuesday, 15 November, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Born in London to Jamaican parents, Nathaniel cites his influences as Charlie Parker, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. He began his music studies at the age of 14 and, with a degree from London's Royal Academy of Music, he has distinguished himself as a creative composer and lyrical performer with a massive future. Nathaniel is of course a member of the award winning and widely acclaimed band Empirical. Their second album ‘Out 'n' In’ was inspired by Eric Dolphy’s 1964 album ‘Out to Lunch!’. Their latest CD ‘Elements of Truth’ has just been released. "graceful...dramatic and subtle...a daring maturity that can only bode well for the future" - Jazzwise.

Tuesday, 8 November, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Trumpeter Henry Lowther has had a varied career since the 60’s working with both the Gil Evans and George Russell Orchestras, John Dankworth, Peter King, Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Watts, Loose Tubes and John Surman on the jazz scene, to Manfred Mann, Buzzcocks, John Mayall and Keef Hartley at the legendary Woodstock Festival. On the classical side, Henry is an accomplished composer, as well as being a featured member of the London Brass Virtuosi. In July this year Henry celebrated his 70th birthday with a special charity concert.

Tuesday, 1 November, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

A big welcome back for tenor ace Benn, grandson of the famous theatre and revue artist, Gertrude Lawrence. Raised in London he has been a resident of Los Angeles since 1980. As a teenager Benn took sax lessons from Ronnie Scott who recommended him to Berklee College, Boston. His work credits include such notables as Cedar Walton, Lionel Hampton and Jimmy Cleveland. Benn is a member of the Fransisco Aguabella Latin Jazz Septet, Tony Insalaco Quintet and Pete Christlieb's Band.

Tuesday, 25 October, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Alto giant Bob Martin hails from Atlantic City, USA and studied at Berklee College before spending four years on the road as one of the featured saxophonists in the Buddy Rich Big Band. He went on to perform with many of the greats: Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Ekstine, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Sammy Davis Jnr. Bob is a wonderfully fluent and inventive alto sax player in the classic hard bop style with superb technique and control of the instrument. Resident in the UK since 1997, he has worked with many of our top names including a lengthy spell with the Frank Griffith Nonet. Tonight he teams with fellow Nonet player, the ever popular Steve Fishwick on trumpet. "The alto sax firebrand from Atlantic City" - Jack Massarik, Evening Standard.

Tuesday, 18 October, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Art Themen, orthopaedic surgeon (now retired) and illustrious saxman, remains a firm favourite on the British jazz scene with a pedigree as long as Southend Pier. Art was involved in the early British blues movement with Alexis Korner’s All Stars, Jack Bruce’s Band and Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Men. He has played and recorded with the bands of Michael Garrick, Graham Collier, Don Weller and in 1974 began a long association with Stan Tracey. He also toured and recorded with Charlie Parker alumni, Red Rodney and Al Haig. On piano this evening a favourite regular of the club, Steve Melling. “Melling is one of the most comprehensively gifted of pianists, with a great technique and an abundance of ideas. He is also a great composer” - Ian Carr, Jazz the Rough Guide Vol 2.

Tuesday, 11 October, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Tony Coe began his performing career with Humphrey Lyttelton’s band and in 1965 Count Basie offered him a place in the Basie Band sax section. His credits since then include the John Dankworth Orchestra, Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Band, Stan Tracey, Mike Gibbs, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gilespie and Bob Brookmeyer. Coe’s extensive experience in recording is heard on such films as Superman II, Victor Victoria and he is the featured tenor sax soloist in Henry Mancini’s music for the Pink Panther films. “Tony Coe is one of the most remarkable and brilliant musicians in the world” - Humphrey Lyttelton. “If my life depended on a jazz ballad, I think I’d ask Tony Coe to play it” - Richard Williams, The Independent.

Tuesday, 4 October, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

  • Dick Pearce (trumpet & flugel)
  • Ross Stanley (piano)
  • Adam King (bass)
  • Clive Fenner (drums)
“More than any other British jazz trumpeter, Pearce probably deserves the mantle of heir to Jimmy Deuchar, offering a style that contains a fractured lyricism reminiscent of his forebear...He has a sophisticated command of harmonic improvising, although, as with his self-confessed (and disparate) trumpet heroes - Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Don Cherry - his playing comes across as anything but contrived. Pearce had a lengthy association with Ronnie Scott which lasted from the 1970s until Scott's health forced him to abandon performing in the mid-1990s, and some of his best recorded work can be found on the CD Never Pat A Burning Dog (Jazz House, 1990), where his solos contrast admirably with Scott's more forthright contributions, and contain a heat and urgency never far beneath the cool surface" - Simon Spillett.

Tuesday, 27 September, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Familiar to us all as the accomplished leader of his astonishing big band, as well as a prolific composer for the movies, television and commercials, tonight John Altman lays down his baton to front a small group. An Emmy and BAFTA winning composer, John began his musical journey at age 3 with Judy Garland at the London Palladium. Commencing his recording and live career as an in-demand saxophonist in the late 60s he has performed with many of the major figures in music over the last few decades including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Muddy Waters, Nick Drake, Eric Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Jimmy Page, Little Richard and Van Morrison, also jazz giants Al Cohn, Jimmy Heath, Chet Baker, Bud Freeman and Joe Newman. His last quartet album recorded in LA was Observer Jazz CD of the month, as was his previous big band CD featuring vocalist Joan Viskant.

Tuesday, 20 September, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

  • Liane Carroll (piano & vocals)
  • Roger Carey (electric bass)
  • Clive Fenner (drums)
We’re privileged to kick-off our new season with the world-class Liane Carroll. Born in London and raised in Hastings, where she currently lives with her husband, bassist Roger Carey, East Side favourite Liane has been playing the piano since she was three and performing professionally since the age of fifteen. She has toured and recorded with artists such as Gerry Rafferty, Long John Baldry and Paul McCartney. Liane enjoyed success as double winner in the 2005 BBC Jazz Awards and 'Best female jazz vocalist' at the first Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Awards. Liane went on to pick up the 2008 Parliamentary Jazz Award for 'Musician Of The Year.' Later that year Liane formed an exciting new collaboration with the acclaimed Scottish jazz pianist Brian Kellock, and in November the pair toured throughout Scotland, at which The Herald declared, "This may well be British jazz's greatest double act." In 2009 Liane and her trio went stateside for the first time and performed to rapturous audiences at Dizzy's Jazz Club at the Lincoln Centre and the Rochester Jazz Festival. "No one who hears Liane Carroll in person is likely to forget the experience. It's not just that she's a brilliant pianist and a mesmerising singer, but that, like Stevie Wonder, she seems in some magical way to be made out of music. No recording has managed to capture this quality until now, but this one comes close" - Dave Gelly, The Observer (reviewing Liane's latest CD 'Up and Down').

Tuesday, 19 July, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Leytonstone Festival present The Annie Whitehead Quintet
Born in Oldham, Lancs, Annie Whitehead learnt trombone at school and by the age of fourteen was already busy playing with brass bands, local dance groups and the Manchester Youth Jazz Orchestra. At sixteen, she started her professional career with Ivy Benson's legendary All Girls Orchestra. Annie has worked with many well known artists including Elvis Costello, Joan Armatrading, Chris Rea, The Style Council and Robert Wyatt. She was a member of Chris MacGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, The Carla Bley Very Big Band and the Penguin Café Orchestra. She has contributed to more than 50 albums and has recorded five albums under her own name."Annie Whitehead is a trombonist of elegant technique and musical tastes taking in funk, salsa and ska as well as jazz" - John Fordham. "Space age themes, a rock influenced funk beat, impressive soloists.. one of the most individual and cohesive bands currently touring the jazz circuit" - The Times.

Tuesday, 12 July, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Theo Travis Quartet

The London-based saxophonist and composer Theo Travis has made a name for himself on the British jazz scene for his virtuosity and soulful style as well as his fine compositions. Born in Birmingham, Theo studied classical music at the University of Manchester whilst playing in various jazz and rock bands. "Theo Travis has played on more than 100 albums since 1993. He has an attractive Michael Breckerish sound on uptempo tenor sax, a Stan Getz-to-Andy Sheppard feel on ballads and soft Latin themes, and a poignant ambient tone on flute - with the latter expanded by electronics and echo. Sometimes it's hard to banish the sound of John Thomson purring "n-i-i-i-c-e" from The Fast Show's Jazz Club under these softly throbbing grooves" - John Fordham of The Guardian reviewing Theo's 2 CD compilation 'An Anthology' released earlier this year.

Tuesday, 5 July, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

A real 'In demand' player and a truly nice guy to boot, we are fortunate to catch Dennis with a rare diary slot in between playing Manchester with his Velocity Trio (supporting Ramsey Lewis) and his next tour date with Maceo Parker’s Band at the Nice Jazz Festival. Born 1964 in the Midlands to Jamaican parents and raised in South Yorkshire, Dennis cut his teeth at the age of 14 performing with the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association. He moved to London and began playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the legendary all-black big band Jazz Warriors. A charismatic and energetic musician, composer and educator, well known on the British and international jazz scene, and celebrated for his versatility and unique approach to the underrated trombone. Dennis' group Badbone & Co walked off with the BBC's Jazz Award for Best Band 2006 and a year later Dennis achieved the British Jazz Award in the trombone category. "..a groove-based brassman who seamlessly combines fluid improvising with the ability to kick the pulse of a band as irresistibly as a drummer” - The Guardian.

Tuesday, 28 June, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Fronting the band tonight we have not one but two favourite sons of the club. Quentin Collins, born locally in Forest Gate, is an outstanding hard bop trumpeter who graduated from the Guildhall School of Music by winning the 'Best Finals' prize. Already with a wealth of experience, he has worked with the likes of Jean Toussaint, Stan Tracey, Norma Winstone, John Surman, Tim Garland and Ray Gelato. Nottingham born, Tony Kofi studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Back in the UK he played with The Jazz Warriors and Gary Crosby's Nu Troop. His subsequent playing credits include Billy Higgins, Branford Marsalis, Byron Wallen, Claude Deppa, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Smith, Eddie Henderson, Jazz Jamaica All Stars and the big bands of Jean Toussaint and Julian Joseph. Tony's quartet was voted best ensemble at the 2005 Parliamentary Jazz Awards; their CD 'Plays Monk - All Is Know', was awarded 'BBC Jazz Line-up Album of the Year 2005'.

Tuesday, 21 June, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Guildford born, Chris began playing the violin at the age of 5. At home, his father Michael, the jazz pianist and composer of international renown, taught him jazz tunes, introducing the colours, flavours and rudiments of the great improvising music. He has worked with many artists including Julian Joseph, Dolly Parton and Brian Ferry and made tours of the Far East and Australia with guitarist John Etheridge in a tribute to Stephane Grappelli. His recording ‘Different Strokes’ was called “The outstanding British album of the year” in the Sunday Times. “His violin playing was a stunning display of musicianship, whether lightly dancing, delicately teasing or producing pyrotechnics that scorched the very timbers of the building” - Jazz Journal.

Tuesday, 14 June, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

The recent album from Denys Baptiste ‘Identity By Subtraction’ has attracted some very positive reviews: "London saxophonist Baptiste won a raft of prizes - a Mercury, a Mobo and a British Jazz award - and much deserved acclaim for 2003's ‘Let Freedom Ring’. Given that head-start, his seven-year absence from the recording studio has been surprising. But the traditionally swaggering tenor-sax tone with a soulfully imploring contemporary edge is still fully functioning on this new quartet set...There's plenty of Coltrane-driven orthodox-postbop that largely avoids the rhythmically byzantine nu-jazz challenges of recent years" - John Fordham, The Guardian. "Baptiste puts all the pieces together with rare dedication, imagination and emotion. Nine mature originals complete a multi-faceted suite of straight-ahead contemporary jazz that repays repeated listening" - Jack Massarik, London Evening Standard.

Tuesday, 7 June, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Born in Gloucester and spending her student days in Paris, award winning jazz vocalist Tina has recorded numerous CDs both as a leader and a guest. In 2004 Tina completed recording with legendry pianist Ray Bryant and a host of New York jazz players. These sessions at the Rudy Van Gelder studio's were released on 'Tina May sings the Ray Bryant Song Book'. “For musical taste, delicacy of interpretation and presentational flair Tina May has always been a hard act to follow. She is also completely at home in jazz, which isn't as common among high-profile singers as you might think” - Dave Gelly, Observer. Her current CD is titled 'Tina May Sings Piaf'.

Tuesday, 31 May, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Now something of a veteran, Lewis Wright began his musical education a little earlier than most - drum lessons from his father, a percussion teacher, at the age of 3, followed by the piano at 7 then vibraphone at age 9. Lewis gave his first public performance age 6 and by 10 was the youngest ever member of the Norwich Students Jazz Orchestra - he retired aged 13. Work credits include Stan Sulzmann, Clark Tracey, Julian Siegel, Martin Drew, Laurence Cottle, Bill le Sage, Jack Parnell and Mark Lockheart. 2001 saw the formation of the Lewis Wright Quartet and in 2009 Lewis was invited to join the award winning group Empirical - he appears on their acclaimed album “Out ‘n’ In”.

Tuesday, 24 May, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Originally from Suffolk, Karen took up the tenor sax whilst studying composition at the Royal Northern College of Music. A friend introduced her to a recording of Dexter Gordon and she was instantly hooked, quickly joining the college jazz band and finding regular work in a busy soul band based in Liverpool. Moving to London in 1999 she became a busy freelance. In 2004 Karen took over from Kathy Stobart in Humphrey Lyttelton's band and stayed for three and a half years, playing tenor and baritone sax to packed houses up and down the country. She won the 2007 British Jazz Awards for both tenor sax player and rising star. “..she’s moved not in a flash in the pan flurry of notes but with well paced assurance to the status of class A player” - Humphrey Lyttleton.

Tuesday, 17 May, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Born in Vancouver, Canada 1982, Jay took up the trumpet at 11 years of age. At 15 he became the youngest artist to lead his own band at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Keen to develop his career further, Jay moved to London at the age of 17 where he immediately attracted the attention of Gary Crosby who engaged him as a dep for Jazz Jamaica All Stars and Nu Troop. In 2002 Gary offered him a place in the core band of Tomorrow's Warriors. Formerly co-leader of the much admired band Empirical, Jay is a featured member of Dennis Rollins’ Badbone & Co and has performed with Andrew Hill, Wynton Marsalis, Ray Brown, George Benson and Hugh Masakela.

Tuesday, 10 May, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

“Known for his collaborations with legendary US drummer Paul Motian and The Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson, Speake has for a long time now been quietly building up a unique body of work that puts him in the top flight of British contemporary jazz. With a sound steeped in the tradition of fifties cool jazz” - BBC Jazz on 3. “A saxophonist with an unusual turn of phrase, a persuasively gentle sound and jazz allegiances that don't follow the usual Coltranesque paths but veer instead toward the fifties Cool School. Martin Speake is not just a distinctive improviser but a striking composer too.” - John Fordham, The Guardian

Tuesday, 3 May, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Son of the late Jimmy Skidmore, also a tenor saxophonist, Alan has toured and recorded with Elvin Jones, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Mike Gibbs and Mike Westbrook, Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, John Dankworth and Tubby Hayes Big Bands, the widely influential SOS group with Mike Osborne and John Surman as well as a continuing association with Georgie Fame’s Blue Flames. “Skidmore - one of the most ferociously virtuosic saxophonists to have emerged out of the British sax generation that worked up its momentum around 1970 - is no mere mirror of Coltrane’s glory. When he attacks the master’s long, twisting odysseys into melodic and harmonic density, he plays as if the effort is fearsome. To watch his chest pumping after a five-minute double-time avalanche of improvisation, you almost wish he would sit down and recover with a bit of Coltrane-like yoga breathing” - John Fordham, Guardian

Tuesday, 12 April, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

"Simon Spillett is the kind of big toned wailing tenor player that I like. The influences of Tubby Hayes and Johnny Griffin are clearly discernible in his sound, harmonic thinking and in his direct no-nonsense determination in getting things swinging. This refreshing attitude is also in evidence in his composing. He has written a whole raft of catchy hard bop tunes which are great launching pads for the soloist and that never fall into the trap of complexity for complexity's sake. A great player" - Alan Barnes. "Those of us who have heard him...have been left blinking in disbelief. It's not just his mastery of the tenor saxophone, phenomenal though that is, but the absolute conviction of his playing that is so impressive" - Dave Gelly, Sunday Observer. "The world's leading Tubbiologist" - Jack Massarik, Jazzwise.

Tuesday, 5 April, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

  • Gilad Atzmon (reeds)
  • Leon Greening (piano)
  • Adam King (bass)
  • Clive Fenner (drums)
He's back - easily one of our most anticipated annual gigs - the phenomenal, exciting, unpredictable musical genius that is Gilad Atzmon.
"Eschewing the political rhetoric, Atzmon now lets the music do the talking, relaxing into a skilful and witty dialogue with his versatile bandmates. Together they breathe new harmonic and rhythmic life into every composition they perform, transforming even the most well-worn jazz standards into scintillating originals - the true essence of real live jazz." "You get an awful lot of music with Gilad Atzmon: quotes from jazz standards, torch songs, ideas playfully purloined from Mediterranean or Middle Eastern sources, sultry Paris-cabaret smooches, New Orleans clarinet swing and bebop in hyperdrive. The Israeli reed virtuoso is acclaimed as one of the most original world-jazz specialists..” - John Fordham, The Guardian. "Atzmon is an astonishing musician with a seemingly effortless ability to demolish and rebuild any old tune he chooses to play" - John Lewis, Time Out.

Tuesday, 29 March, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Martin Shaw was born into a family of musicians, both his mother and father being accomplished pianists. He began piano lessons at the age of 9 and started studying the trumpet at the age of 11. Four years later Martin became a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain and remained there for 3 years. He subsequently gained a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London to study classical trumpet and jazz, graduating after three years. In 1989 Martin was invited to study at Berklee college of music in Boston, before returning to London to finish his studies. Martin has worked with many leading jazz artists including Cleo Laine, John Dankworth, Pete King, Dick Morrisey, Tim Garland and numerous big bands including the BBC Big Band; he has also recorded, performed live and toured extensively with various pop artists including Sting, Jamiroquai, Natalie Cole, Paul Young and the Brand New Heavies. In 2001 Martin was appointed professor of Jazz Trumpet at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Tuesday, 22 March, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Rob Townsend started playing the sax when he got fed up with carting drums around. A senior lecturer in Jazz at Middlesex University, he has performed with a broad range of leading musicians including Django Bates, Sam Rivers, Iain Ballamy, Tim Garland, Mark Lockheart and Bill Bruford. Rob has been a featured soloist with ex Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett for a number of years, touring internationally and recording a number of albums and DVDs. He’s also played on film and TV scores for Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck.
"..by turns playful, rhapsodic and irreverent, he injected an almost folksy sensibility into his solos, coaxing sunshine out of the most oblique chord progressions" - James Griffiths, The Guardian.

Tuesday, 15 March, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Born 1936 in Glasgow, Bobby worked with Stan Tracey's Quartet during the 1960s, playing on the classic album "Under Milk Wood". In a poll by Jazz UK magazine, readers chose this record as their all-time favourite British jazz album. Bobby was absent from the jazz scene for a number of years, until in 1976 he formed a quartet and with Don Weller, a quintet. He was then able to perform regularly and start recording again. Bobby Wellins is and always has been an original with his own distinctive sound. "Bobby Wellins has a tenor sax tone so celebrated that it has become the one aspect of his playing everbody mentions. But that gorgeous, smoky sound is part of a complete style that involves articulation, phrasing and a delightfully wayward approach to time" - The Observer.

Tuesday, 8 March, 2011

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Georgia Mancio’s music is an intriguing reflection of her Anglo-Latino background: predominantly a standards singer, she also specialises in South American and European music and is a lyricist. As a child she played classical flute, went on to train as an actor and film-maker before returning to her musical roots (her Italian grandparents were a concert pianist and opera singer respectively), turning professional in 2000. A natural, instinctive musician with a pure, honeyed tone and deceptively simple delivery. "..she left this same venue begging for more..Her voice is sweet and small, but she has learned how to slip it across with the lethal cool of a Mafioso stiletto" - Jack Massarik, Evening Standard.
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