Evening Concerts
The Jim Mullen Reunion Band
Jim Mullen guitar, Gareth Williams piano, Mick Hutton bass, Gary Husband drums: Thus 16 Feb 8pm
As the name suggests this band is a reunion of the Quartet that was in existence for six years from 1996. It's members are amongst the most experienced jazz muscians in the country and the group developed an extremely powerful musical identity during it's lifetime. Now reformed for a two-week tour band will be playing a mixture of new music specially written for the tour and pieces previously played or recorded. The Quartet has recorded five cds: We Go Back (1996), Live In Glasgow (1997), Burns (2000), Animation (2001), Somewhere In The Hills (2002). This group is one of the most powerful and exciting bands ever to appear on the UK Jazz Scene.
Jim Mullen: Moved to London from Glasgow in 1969, going on to work in the groups of Pete Brown (2 albums) Brian Auger (3 albums) Vinegar Joe (1 Album) and Kokomo (1 album). In 1975 he met sax player Dick Morrissey and began a 15 year association. After the demise of Morrissey Mullen he worked with jazz vocalist Claire Martin (3 albums) and formed a series of quartets (3 albums). As sideman he is in demand by visiting U.S. stars like Gene Harris, Mose Allison, Jimmy Smith, Weldon Irvine, Percy Sledge, Teddy Edwards, Plas Johnson, Jimmy Witherspoon and Terry Collier. He is twice winner of 'Best Guitar' in the British Telecom jazz awards and 'Best Guitar' in the British Jazz Awards for 2000.
Gary Husband: originally based in Leeds, Gary has recently been tutoring drummers from Leeds College of Music jazz course as part of the Jazz Yorkshire futures scheme. Current projects include live and recording work with John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Robin Trower, Allan Holdsworth Trio with Jimmy Johnson, Mike Stern, Hamburg’s NDR Big Band and Frankfurt’s HR Big Band. He has also worked with artists such as Billy Cobham, Colin Towns, Jeff Beck, Gongzilla, Gary Moore, Level 42 and Mark King, Steve Topping, Maria Schneider, Jim Mullen, Randy Brecker, Andy Summers, Alan Skidmore, Chris Squire, Aydin Esen, Peter Erskine, Al Jarreau amongst many others.
Gareth Williams: One of the most intensely creative, dynamic and exciting performers on the UK scene, Gareth Williams has been receiving increasing critical and public acclaim since becoming a professional musician in the early 90s. He has for many yearsworked as pianist/MD for internationally acclaimed jazz singer Claire Martin (several times winner of the British Jazz Singer of the Year awards) and has also been involved in arranging her music, writing original compositions for her band, singing and playing guitar. He has worked with many international jazz greats, includilg Art Farmer, George Coleman, Bud Shank, James Moody and Dave Liebman, plus top British musicians such as Jim Mullen, Martin Taylor, Martin Drew, Tommy Smith, Tim Garland, Clark Tracey, Gwyneth Herbert and Iain Ballamy.
Mick Hutton: turned professional as a jazz double-bassist in 1981. In addition to leading his own bands he has played on over sixty albums and performed in many countries worldwide. Amongst the artists he has played with are: Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, Jack Bruce, Bill Bruford, Humphrey Lyttelton, Nigel Kennedy, Acker Bilk, Jim Mullen, Gary Husband, Bob Berg, Pharoah Saunders, Tommy Smith, Courtney Pine, John Scofield, Annie Ross, Mose Allison and Bobo Stenson.
The Jim Mullen Reunion Band is at Seven Arts, Thursday 16 February, doors open 8pm music 8.30-11.15pm
Tickets £15 (full price), £12 (concessionary) from Seven Arts tel 0113 26 26 777, standby tickets for full time students £5 on the door only.
Dave O Higgins, Eric Alexander and the Kristian Leth trio
Dave O Higgins tenor sax, Eric Alexander tenor sax, James Pearson (piano), Arnie Somogyi (bass) Kristian Leth (drums)
A two tenor special featuring two of the very best, UK's Dave O Higgins and from the US Eric Alexander
American tenor sax star Eric Alexander has been exploring new musical worlds from the outset. Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination, he started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others.
"The people I listened to in college are still the cats that are influencing me today," says Alexander. "Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson--the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop pioneers, that language and that feel, that's the bread and butter of everything I do. George Coleman remains a big influence because of his very hip harmonic approach, and I'm still listening all the time to Coltrane because I feel that even in the wildest moments of his mid- to late-Sixties solos I can find these little kernels of melodic information and find ways to employ them in my own playing."
During the 1990s Alexander threw himself into the whirlwind life of a professional jazz musician. He played with organ trios on the South Side of Chicago, made his recording debut in 1991 with Charles Earland on Muse Records, and cut his first album as leader in 1992 (Straight Up for Delmark). More recordings followed for numerous labels, including Milestone and others, leading to 1997's Man with a Horn; the 1998 collaborative quartet session with George Mraz, John Hicks, and Idris Muhammad, Solid!; and, that same year, the first recording by One For All, Alexander's ongoing band with Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, Joe Farnsworth, Peter Washington, and Dave Hazeltine.
Eric has appeared in many capacities on record, including leader, sideman, producer as well as composing a number of the tunes he records. By now, Alexander has lost count of how many albums feature his playing; he guesses 60 or 70. While he has garnered critical acclaim from every corner, what has mattered most has been to establish his own voice within the illustrious bop-based jazz tradition. http://www.ericalexanderjazz.com
UK saxman Dave O Higgins has played over the years with everyone from Martin Taylor to Ray Charles, Matthew Herbert to Salif Keita. He also teaches saxophone & harmony at the London Centre for Contemporary Music and Goldsmiths College. http://www.daveohiggins.com
Dave O Higgins, Eric Alexander and the Kristian Leth trio are at Seven Arts on Thursday 8 March
£15/12 concessions, reservations 0113 26 26 777, full time students standby tickets £5 on the door only. Doors open 8pm music 8.30-11pm.
Tina May with the Nikki Isles trio
Tina May vocals, Nikki Isles piano, Stephen Keogh drums, Mark Hodgson double bass
Tina May remains the most expressive and technically gifted jazz singer on the UK scene. For musical taste, delicacy of interpretation and presentational flair she 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. Her choice of songs is as hip as anyone could wish, including pieces by Kenny Wheeler, Oliver Nelson and Horace Silver. Tina and Nikki Iles have a rapport that is far beyond mere voice plus accompaniment. With the immaculate drumming of Stephen Keogh drums, and the brilliant Mark Hodgson on double bass, this concert will be a delight.
More information and music see www.tinamay.com/reviews.htm
Tina May with the Nikki Isles trio are at Seven Arts on Thursday March 22 8pm £15/12 concessions, reservations 0113 26 26 777, full time students standby tickets £5 on the door only. Doors open 8pm music 8.30-11pm.
Sue Richardson- "Too Cool" The music of Chet Baker
Sue Richardson vocals and trumpet, Andy Williams guitar, Neil Richardson piano, George Trebar bass, Sam Glasson drums
Since being tipped for the top by Jazzwise in January ’08 Sue Richardson's career has been going from strength to strength. She featured on Ian Shaw’s tribute to Humph, Sad Sweet Song, and as a result was a guest at Ronnie Scott’s tribute to Humph alongside Tina May and Barry Cryer. She has appeared at the London Jazz Festival and featured on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz LineUp. Her second album "Emergence" is released on Splash Point Records. This CD shows her engaging voice and warm trumpet sound to full advantage, as she takes you from swinging up-tempo jazz through thoughtful ballads to a sultry Cuban number. The recording features her gold-flower trumpet, especially made for Sue by award-winning Eclipse Trumpets, of whom Sue is a proud endorsee.
Touring with big bands by the age of 16, Sue has a musical past that includes many years travelling the world, gigging in over 50 countries. She has worked for the BBC, performing at The Last Night of The Proms and gaining a Blue Peter badge for her singing! Sue performed live for a BBC Radio Election Night Special Broadcast (which received an award) and was delighted to be chosen as a finalist in the Marion Montgomery Awards at the Jazz Divas Festival, Isle of Wight and the Jazz Services Promoters Choice Awards.
Sue’s quintet gigs are a great combination of her original songs and imaginatively reworked standards. You will love her reworking of the Chet Baker songbook but also hear Ella Fitzgerald and Clifford Brown in her programming. The musicians in the band also take centre stage with well thought out solo spots. The band have taken their special brand of modern jazz with a main stream twist to many venues on the national and international circuits
Hear Sue's music hereSue Richardson's Quintet is at Seven Arts, Thursday 5th April, doors open 8pm music 8.30-11.15pm
Tickets £12 (full price), £10 (concessionary) from Seven Arts tel 0113 26 26 777, standby tickets for full time students £5 on the door only.
Howard Alden and Jeanne Gies
Howard Alden guitar and Jeanne Gies vocals with Gary Jackson bass, Caroline Boaden drums
As an addition to our jazz programme schedule we are pleased to announce the welcome return to Seven Jazz of America's best known jazz guitarists and Concord recording artist Howard Alden, in concert with New York jazz singer Jeanne Gies. Howard and Jeanne enchanted us with their appearance last year so we were really pleased to hear they were back in the UK again this Spring. We have the same fine musicians on bass and drums as well - Gary Jackson and Caroline Boaden. The picture from their 2012 concert is by Tom Swire
Born in Newport Beach, California, in 1958, Howard Alden began playing at age ten, inspired by recordings of Armstrong, Basie and Goodman, as well as those by guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and George Van Eps. Soon he was working professionally around Los Angeles playing in groups ranging from traditional to mainstream to modern jazz. In 1979, Alden went east, for a summer in Atlantic City with Red Norvo, and continued to perform with him frequently for several years.Upon moving to New York City in 1982, Alden's skills, both as soloist and accompanist, were quickly recognized and sought-out for appearances and recordings with such artists as Joe Bushkin, Ruby Braff, Joe Williams, Warren Vache` and Woody Herman. He has continued to win accolades from critics and musicians alike, adding Benny Carter, Flip Phillips, Mel Powell, Bud Freeman, Kenny Davern, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie and George Van Eps, as well as notable contemporaries such as Scott Hamilton and Ken Peplowski to his list of impressive credits. Howard Alden has been a Concord Jazz recording artist since the late '80s where his prolific recorded output as leader, co-leader, and versatile sideman, has captured an artist of consistently astonishing virtuosity and originality. "He may be the best of his generation," writes Owen Cordle in JazzTimes. George Kanzler of the Newark Star Ledger proclaims that he is "the most impressive and creative member of a new generation of jazz guitarists." Chip Deffaa of the New York Post observes that he is "...one of the very finest guitarists working today."
Jeanne Gies is jazz singer from New Yorks. Her steadily increasing popularity has landed her regular gigs in well-known venues including The Carnegie Club, Shelly’s New York, Iridium, The Bar Next Door, Sweet Rhythm, Jilly’s, Monte’s and many more. Last year marked Jeanne’s debut at the legendary Smoke Jazz club, as guest singer for WBGO radio host Sheila Anderson. Hear her music here
The Howard Alden group featuring Jean Gies are at Seven on Thursday evening April 12 8pm £15/£12 concessions. The full time student concession is £5, available on the door.