Tuesday, 14 July, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

As part of this year's Leytonstone Festival we present a unique opportunity to see award-winners Liane Carroll and Julian Siegel with top pianist and educator Simon Purcell together with bassist Roger Carey and drummer Clive Fenner perform outside of their normal musical settings. Liane, Julian and Simon are tutors on Clives' International French Jazz School and it has been in the relaxed environment of the school's nightly club that they have developed a musical relationship that has explored aspects of their playing not normally seen in their various bands and that will be featured here tonight. The evening will feature quartet, trio, duo and solo arrangements and will cross a wealth of musical styles. Not to be missed.

Tuesday, 7 July, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Trudy moved to London in 1990 from her native Australia and, whilst continuing to gig regularly, worked during the day as secretary for popular clarinettist Acker Bilk. She took time out to study jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and in 1995 got her musical career break when Ronnie Scott offered her a week at his club. "Australian expatriate Trudy Kerr is another artist who understands the importance of seducing the public. A combination of artful programming and assured arrangements has made her one of the country's most polished singers" - Clive Davis, The Times. "..Trudy Kerr is outstanding, imaginative but respectful to the original song, with excellent phrasing and diction and a smile in her voice"- Dave Gelly, The Observer.

Tuesday, 30 June, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 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. He joined Seb Rochford's Polar Bear in 2003. In 2005 Mark released Moving Air featuring John Parricelli, Martin France and Mark's muti-tracked reeds; this album has been described as his most personal album yet. "Lockheart is a consummate saxophonist and an original and versatile composer" - The Rough Guide to Jazz.

Tuesday, 23 June, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Born in Forest Gate, East London, Quentin Collins 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, Tony Kofi, Ray Gelato and is the longest serving member of the Blue Note inspired Dylan Howe Quintet. Quentin's debut album ‘If Not Now, Then When?’ is a balance of poignantly autobiographical originals and standards. It was voted 5th best Jazz Album of 2007 in the January 2008 edition of MOJO magazine. “...with Collins bringing a bright, crisply articulated Lee Morgan - like intensity to the proceedings..and a soft, brassy lyricism” - John Fordham, The Guardian.

Tuesday, 16 June, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

Geoff Simkins started playing jazz in his early teens. His first instrument was drums, but he quickly changed to the alto saxophone turning professional in 1977. Geoff has played concerts, clubs and festivals in the UK, Europe and beyond. He often works with American musicians who are visiting the UK, and over the years has played with such luminaries as Art Farmer, Bobby Shew, Al Cohn, Tal Farlow, Slide Hampton, Warren Vache, Al Grey, Kenny Davern, Bill Berry, Al Casey, Howard Alden, Ruby Braff, Bill Coleman and Conte Candoli. He has recorded with UK tenor player Danny Moss and with US trumpeters Billy Butterfield and Yank Lawson. Since the 1980s he has worked regularly with tonight's sideman guitarist Dave Cliff.

Tuesday, 9 June, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

A real favourite of the club, Dennis Rollins was 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' Badbone & Co was the winner of the BBC's Jazz Award for Best Band 2006. "Rollins' trombone blares out like the cry of a sexual predator on heat: that's right, the trombone can be sexy" - James Griffiths, The Guardian.

Tuesday, 2 June, 2009

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, 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, 26 May, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

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, Chis 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 Cafe Orchestra. "Annie Whitehead is a trombonist of elegant technique and musical tastes taking in funk, salsa and ska as well as jazz" - John Fordham.

Tuesday, 19 May, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Tonight Karen features material from her latest CD "Brandy and Beer", a tribute to the tenor giants Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. The CD also includes tonight’s tenor partner Robert Fowler. 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.

Tuesday, 12 May, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

Born Birmingham 1964, Dave learnt trumpet, drums and piano at school but was self taught on the sax. Dave’s playing credits include Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Cleo Laine & John Dankworth, Martin Taylor, Jim Mullen, Matt Bianco, Jason Rebello, Clark Tracey Sextet, Peter Gabriel and Jamie Cullum. Winner of the 1995 BT British Jazz Awards in the tenor sax and rising star categories. Dave’s most seen and heard career moment (and arguably moment of least artistic merit!)...as the busker in "The Return of Mr Bean". "O’Higgins, well - does he know just how good he is? When it comes to bop of any kind, on either soprano or tenor saxophones, he is, live, one of our few world-class players, capable of holding his own with the Americans" - Sholto Byrnes, The Independent.

Tuesday, 5 May, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

Jim Hart was born in Cornwall, and began learning piano and percussion at the age of four. Taking an early interest in jazz he was playing both drums and piano in the Tamar Youth Jazz Orchestra when he was eleven. He now plays regularly with Martin Drew's New Jazz Couriers, Stan Sulzmann, Gwilym Simcock, Alan Barnes, Paul Clarvis and the Matt Wates Sextet. 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, 28 April, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 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, The Guardian

Tuesday, 21 April, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 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. The route to success was through pub gigs and appearances on BBC’s Jazz Club, funded by work as a successful session musician. 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 memorable of these events was working with Chet Baker for a week at The Canteen in Great Queen Street. He worked closely with Pete King, Tommy Whittle, Tony Coe and the late great Ronnie Ross for many years, playing regularly in their groups and recording with them. For the last twenty years he has been first pianist to Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine. "Musicians know John Horler as one of the finest jazz pianists that Britain has ever produced, but his name is rarely banded about by the fans" - Dave Gelly, The Observer

Tuesday, 31 March, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 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 great 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.

Tuesday, 24 March, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 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, 17 March, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 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, 10 March, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

The stageposts along Jean Toussaint’s career have all made their mark - the Caribbean, New York and London. From a calypso band in his teens in St Thomas, Toussaint moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music where fellow students included Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby and Jeff Watts. In 1982 he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. “I learned more in four years with Art than I’d have learned in ten had I not got through that audition” says Toussaint, who played alongside Mulgrew Miller, Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Lonnie Plaxico. While in New York, Toussaint also worked with Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner and Gil Evans. In 1987 he accepted an invitation from the Guildhall School of Music to teach improvisation for three months. He’s still here. From London, Toussaint works extensively in Europe and the US. “Toussaint displays a beautiful incisive tone that you can only compare to liquid crystal..” - Time Out

Tuesday, 3 March, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

John Altman's All Star Big Band

  • soprano sax & arrangements: John Altman
  • trumpets: Quentin Collins, Simon Gardner, Steve Sidwell & Steve Waterman
  • trombones: Pete Beachill, Neil Sidwell, Sarah Williams & Andy Wood
  • saxes: Alan Barnes, Jay Craig, Bob Sydor, Jamie Talbot & Martin Williams
  • tuba: Graham Read
  • guitar: Mitch Dalton
  • piano: Brian Dee
  • bass: Chris Laurence
  • drums: Ian Thomas
Back by popular demand, tonight we welcome the return of John Altman's All Star Big Band. 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 two 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. His quartet album recorded in LA was Observer Jazz CD of the month, as was his previous big band CD featuring vocalist Joan Viskant. John wishes to make it known that he has never won a BBC Jazz Award!

Tuesday, 24 February, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Simon Purcell Quintet
It is often overlooked that Simon Purcell is one of Britain’s most accomplished pianists, largely due to his educational work as Head of the Jazz Faculty at Trinity College of Music and previously at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (1987 - 2005). This is a quintet of old friends and musical associates. Having collaborated together at the Glamorgan Jazz Summer School for many years, Simon has convened this group of musicians to explore new compositions. The music explores more open forms and while musicians hate comparisons, the music lies somewhere between Miles, Wayne Shorter and Dave Douglas. Simon’s own playing embodies the influences of pianists who formed much of the the jazz vocabulary such as Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner, as well as the British pianists John Taylor and Pete Saberton whom he sites as major influences.

Tuesday, 17 February, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Gilad Atzmon and the Real Jazz Quartet
He's back - easily one of our most anticipated annual gigs - the phenomenal, exciting, musical genius that is Gilad Atzmon.
"Eschewing the political rhetoric, Atzmon now lets the music do the talking, relaxing into a skillful 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, 10 February, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

Chris Biscoe is self taught, starting on alto sax then tenor, soprano, baritone, flute and alto clarinet. He started working with Mike Westbrook in 1979 and has played in many of Mike’s projects. He has also toured and recorded with George Russell, Andy Sheppard, Grand Union, Chris McGregor, Didier Levallet and worked with Hermeto Pascoal, Dewey Redman, Kenny Wheeler and the New York Composers Orchestra. 2007 was a notable year for Chris, with debut gigs from several new bands. British Standard Time is an exploration of British show tunes of the pre-Beatles era, with a couple of folk tunes thrown in for good measure while Miles vs Monk, is inspired by the 50th anniversaries of two remarkable and vividly contrasting records, Miles Ahead and Monks Music. The Chris Biscoe Quartet is an exploration of the musical influence of woodwind virtuoso Eric Dolphy. 2008 is the 80th anniversary of Dolphy’s birth, and the Quartet, which features award-winning saxist Tony Kofi, released its first CD, Gone in the Air, in June.

Tuesday, 3 February, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£6 on the door

Kenny Wheeler Quintet
Tonight we are privileged to present the legendary Kenny Wheeler with his own formidable quintet. Kenny was born in Canada in 1930. In 1952 he moved to Britain and found his way into the London jazz scene playing in groups led by Tommy Whittle, Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott. Highly respected among his peers for his beautiful tone and extensive range on the trumpet and flugelhorn, he has written over one hundred compositions and is a skilled arranger for small groups and larger ensembles. Kenny’s compositions blend lyrical melodies with a distinctive and ever changing harmonic palette. He has recorded some twenty albums as a leader and has recorded or performed with Dave Holland, John Taylor and Norma Winstone (as Azimuth), Lee Konitz, Keith Jarrett, Bill Frisell, Bob Brookmeyer, Paul Bley, Jan Garbarek and Jack DeJohnette among others. “At 70+ years of age Kenny still has the ability to amaze both as a player as well as composer. He sounds as fresh as any young lion and deep as any veteran” - Peter Madsen, allaboutjazz.com

Tuesday, 27 January, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

Ed began playing saxophone at the age of 15. In 1984 he graduated from Middlesex University with a degree in music, and for a while served an apprenticeship as a street musician. Ed’s subsequent playing credits include George Benson, Horace Silver, Jimmy Witherspoon, Dianne Reeves, Charles Earland, Clifford Jarvis and Dr Lonnie Smith. “A formidable saxophonist. Ed Jones may have hit his highest profile through his work with bands US3 and Incognito, but he’s an improviser to his fingertips, a player of forceful imagination and one of the UK’s most distinctive saxophonists.” - John Fordham, The Guardian.

Tuesday, 20 January, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Mark Nightingale began playing at the age of 9 and his outstanding talent became widely recognised when he won the coveted Don Lusher Award at the age of 15. At 16 he was already lead trombonist in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Whilst in NYJO he formed and lead the 5 trombone band, 'Bonestructure', producing their debut album in 1988. Now 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, 13 January, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

Steve Waterman began his career while studying at Trinity College of Music. He is professor of jazz trumpet at The Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College. Steve has his own quintet and in 2003 formed his 18-piece jazz orchestra playing his original compositions. As well as 5 notable albums under his own leadership, he has recorded with the likes of Carla Bley, Mike Garrick, Graham Collier and Alan Barnes. Recent projects include a pairing with fellow trumpeter Bruce Adams; together they present a spectacular concert "A Tribute to Trumpet Kings" backed by The Steve Waterman Jazz Orchestra. Steve’s latest CD "Night Lights" features the music of Gerry Mulligan and Chick Corea.

Tuesday, 6 January, 2009

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, 16 December, 2008

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

A vibrant and charismatic performer on all 4 sax's from soprano to baritone, Derek Nash is of course best known as leader and arranger, since its inception over 20 years ago, of the award winning ensemble ‘Sax Appeal’. Derek is currently nominated for a 2008 British Jazz Award, in the alto sax category.
“If John Etheridge weren’t so brilliant he might be more famous. His versatility is confusing. What other guitarist could have begun his career as a member of Soft Machine and the Stephan Grappelli Quintet?” - Dave Gelly, Observer. John left Grappelli’s group in the early 80s. For the last twenty years he has pursued a career involving associations with many of the great players - he has appeared with: Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Williams, Yehudi Menuhin, Pat Metheny and Nigel Kennedy. “I never wanted to be a star, just a highly respected musician like John Etheridge” - Sting, The Guardian. “One of the best guitarists in the world” - Pat Metheny.

Tuesday, 9 December, 2008

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 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.

Tuesday, 2 December, 2008

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

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 own 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". Tony's recent album “Future Passed" features a Hammond organ-powered extended trio.

Tuesday, 25 November, 2008

8.30 - 11.00pm
£4 on the door

"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