Jazz at the Fairway

 

 

The Best of Jazz every Sunday evening
(Panshanger Golf Complex, Welwyn Garden City, For information phone: 01992-550230
  Doors open 7:30 pm.  Music  from 8:00 pm till 10:30 pm).

WB01343_.gif (599 bytes)  Home page          WB01345_.gif (616 bytes) Forthcoming events          TN00605A.gif (2512 bytes) How to get there             WB01345_.gif (616 bytes) How to contact 

Feeling the pressure? Life getting too stressful?  The best way to start the week is to relax to some fantastic live music,  just look at our programme for the immediate future or click on forthcoming events (above). 
You can be part of the best jazz club in the South of England by joining.  Club membership keeps you up to date with the programme and also saves you money on the admission price                     
                                   What's on in the coming weeks                 

June 29th Bobby Worth Quintet
Bobby is a drummer of renown; his natural swing makes him first call with jazz musicians across the board. He was the first drummer in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and has played with most American visitors to these shores; he is one of the few who has performed on a jazz gig with Michel Legrand. Tonight’s quartet includes Paul Jordanous an exciting new prospect on trumpet, the brilliant Simon Allen (saxes), John Pearce (piano) and Paul Morgan (bass). The band plays modern interpretations of popular standards.  Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members
July 6th Allison Neale Quintet
The ultra cool Allison Neale  plays alto sax and flute and is equally good on either instrument. Her major influences are Paul Desmond and Art Pepper.  She co-leads this band with Gary Kavanagh, a fiery hard bop trumpet player and the combination of these diametrically opposed styles is enormously successful.  They like to play post bebop compositions by Gigi Gryce, Benny Golson and Art Farmer along with some very melodic originals. Allison and Gary are supported by Dave Cliff (guitar), Dave Whitford (bass) and Matt Home (drums). Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members
July 13th Gareth Lockrane Septet
 Gareth is simply the best jazz flautist on the UK scene, he is also a very fine arranger.  He plays all the flutes in this band with Brandon Allen on tenor sax, Robbie Robson (trumpet), Trevor Myers (trombone), Robin Aspland (piano), Simon Thorpe (bass) and Jim Hart (drums).  Admission is £9 for members and £11 for non-members
July 20th Mark Crooks and Phil Day play ‘Al & Zoot’
Regrettably Alex Garnett and most of his band have been hijacked and will not be able to get back from Italy in time for the planned gig this evening.  However, we have been very fortunate in securing the services of the brilliant tenor saxophonist Mark Crooks.  An outstanding performer on both tenor saxophone and clarinet he has been running a two tenor band with Jim Tomlinson for some time.  As Jim is on tour with Stacey Kent he looked around for a replacement for this gig and, luckily for us, he found the ideal man in Phil Day, a superb tenor man in the Zoot Sims mould.  They are both great admirers of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims so it was natural for them to team up in this project based on the music of  famous ‘Al and Zoot’  band.  They have chosen a great rhythm section in John Pearce (piano), Luke Steele (bass) and Nat Steele (drums).  Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members
July 27th    Adam Bishop Quintet
Another strong import from Australia, Adam was born in the UK but brought up in Canberra. He is a very fine tenor and soprano saxophone player who is making his mark in the UK. He has assembled a terrific band  with Jim Hart (vibes), Andrew McCormack (piano), Larry Bartley (bass), and Shaney Forbes (drums).  Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members.
August 3rd

 

Phil DeGreg Trio
Phil is an internationally renowned educator; he teaches jazz piano at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and is a regular lecturer in Jamey Aebersold’s Jazz Workshops - the main reason why is in the UK at this time.  He is a great pianist - relaxed, natural, and soulful; his CV includes a period with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd in the mid 80s and he has accompanied such luminaries as Slide Hampton, JJ Johnson, Bobby Watson, Mark Murphy, Ira Sullivan, Carl Fontana, Richie Cole, Stanley Turrentine, Scott Hamilton, Joe Lovano and Ken Peplowski, among many others.  His British trio includes Dave Green (bass) and Steve Brown (drums).  Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members.
August 10th 

Esther Miller Quintet
Esther settled in the UK a few years ago when she emigrated from her native South Africa; her first gig for us, in  2007,  was a great success so we are delighted to welcome her back with her new quintet. The redoubtable Karen Sharp plays tenor sax, Steve Melling is on piano, with Zoltan Dekany (bass) and John Perry (drums).  Gerry Spencer has written some superb arrangements which feature Esther both as solo voice and also as lead 'instrument' in the ensemble.  Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members
August 17th   Vic Ash Quintet
In the fifties and sixties Vic was voted the top jazz clarinet player in the country for 8 consecutive years. He began his professional career at the age of 20 when he joined Kenny Baker’s band.  He played at Birdland in New York with the Vic Lewis Orchestra and joined John Dankworth in 1960.  He teamed up with the brilliant trombonist Andy Wood when they worked together in the BBC Radio Big Band. The personnel of the quintet has changed a little over the years and now features John Critchinson on piano with Simon Thorpe (bass) and Martin Drew (drums); however the musical policy remains consistent – nice tunes played in a swinging manner with inventive solos. Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members 
August 24th Clark Tracey Sextet
Clark Tracey, son of Stan, follows a path previously trodden by the great Art Blakey, and that’s not only in respect of his eminence as a be-bop drummer.  Like Blakey he has consistently formed new bands featuring up and coming young players.  In his latest band he features the brilliant vibraphonist Lewis Wright, who is well known to our club members having performed for us on several occasions since his debut at the age of fourteen! Other members of the group are saxophonist Piers Green, trumpet player Paul Jordanous, pianist Kit Downes, Ryan Trebilcock on bass and, of course Clark on drums. Admission is £9 for members and £10 for non-members.
August 31st Simon Spillett Quartet
Simon has many strings to his bow, he is an excellent journalist and jazz historian; for one so young it is amazing how much he knows about the music. However it is as a tenor saxophonist that we know him so well, playing in the style of the late great Tubby Hayes, who was the most accomplished of the post-war British bebop generation; his approach shares a similar love of dare-devil breakneck tempos and all out intensity. In tonight’s quartet he is joined by John Critchinson (piano), Alex Dankworth (bass) and Martin Drew on drums. Admission is £8 for members and £10 for non-members