Tuesday, 24 February, 2009

8.30 - 11.00pm
£5 on the door

Simon Purcell Quintet

• Simon Purcell (piano)
• Julian Siegel (tenor sax)
• Chris Batchelor (trumpet)
  
• Steve Watts (bass)
• Gene Calderazzo (drums)

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.