Friday 2 January 2009

Happy New Year to one and all!

Brighton Jazz Club kicks off the 2009 programme next week.

Friday 9 January 2009

Tony Kofi Quartet £12/£10 (NUS £8)

Tony Kofi Soprano, alto and baritone saxophones
Jonathan Gee Piano Ben Hazelton Double bass Winston Clifford Drums

Tony Kofi

After last season's gigs with Byron Wallen and on the Dolphy tribute with Chris Biscoe, a swift return for one of the fiercest blowers on the scene was a racing certainty. Though obviously contrasting in style, both appearances showcased Tony's ever more impressive talents as a player. We catch him at the opening of a nationwide tour, after which he begins appearances with the legendary World Saxophone Quartet, performing at the Berlin Jazz Festival.

Already acclaimed and award-winning for this band's Monk project and the CD All Is Know, Jonathan has brought to us several international line-ups, including his quartet of Italy's finest; his skills have variously been compared to legends such as Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock.

Ben performs regularly with Killer Shrimp, and appears on their CDs; one of our favourite drummers, Winston has appeared widely with Ed Jones in several bands, and in Tony's Organ Trio, which played BJC at our old Arts Club venue, which is apparently now a pub! Both Winston and Jonathan also perform together (singing and playing) in Michael Mwenso's Male Vocal Combustion, which is well worth catching.

For more information see Tony's MySpace page.

Friday 16 January 2009

Liam Noble Trio play Brubeck £12/£10 (NUS £8)

Liam Noble Piano Dave Whitford Bass Dave Wickins Drums

Liam Noble by Helena Dornellas

Tonight sees the launch of a new project from Liam's trio; one of the great pianistic finds of recent years, in that time he has brought to us his excellent quintet, featuring his compositions, and Chris Biscoe and Stan Sulzmann on reeds.

He also appeared with Spike Wells and the Bobby Wellins Quartet, the latter being a familiar home for brilliant drummer Dave, who recently delighted us with the Geoff Simkins Quartet and earlier still with John Law's trio.

Dave the bass is another key player on the UK scene, with last year's gig alongside Liam in the Christine Tobin Group being particularly memorable. He's soon to appear on the CD The Gary Kavanagh-Bobby Wellins Quintet Play The Music of Clifford Brown.

Here with a new CD on Basho records, Liam's trio is a particular and rare delight, tonight bringing his personal style to the evening's third Dave.

For more information see www.liamnoble.co.uk.

Friday 23 January 2009

Julian Argüelles Trio
with Michael Formanek and Tom Rainey
£14/£12 (NUS £10)

Julian Argüelles Reeds Michael Formanek Bass Tom Rainey Drums

Julian Argüelles by Richard Kaby

Julian's trio is by any measure a stunning, world class line-up; his US partners have been an integral part of stateside jazz for over two decades. Michael is known for a great breadth of style that covers playing with Gerry Mulligan and Benny Golson, to John Scofield and Tim Berne; his other collaborations have featured the Mingus Big Band, Dave Douglas, Marty Ehrlich and Marvin 'Smitty' Smith, so we should expect some high-octane playing.

Tom is regarded as one of the hardest-working players in the US; he has worked with Berne in many bands, particularly Science Friction; he's also a regular with Fred Hersch, David Torn and Craig Taborn. His early gigs saw him with creative powerhouses such as Tom Harrell, Bill Frisell and Kenny Werner.

Julian's various projects have often taken him from these shores – he is now partly based in Germany and in Scotland, so we're lucky to be somewhere in the middle. He also has been gigging around Portugal, and recently recorded in Germany with John Taylor. He has two rather contrasting CDs due; Inner Voices is entirely solo (with effects) and appears this month on the Portuguese label Tone of a Pitch; the other is with Frankfurt's HR Big Band, for whom Julian is Composer-In-Residence. The trio, already over-burdened with talent, will later become a quartet for a special tour of Scotland, with the addition of US guitar legend John Abercrombie.

For more information see www.julianarguelles.com.

Friday 30 January 2009

Bobby Wellins with the Frank Harrison Trio
£12/£10 (NUS £8)

Bobby Wellins Tenor saxophone
Frank Harrison Piano Jeremy Brown Bass Steven Keogh Drums

Bobby Wellins

The venerable Scots tenorman remains one of the most distinctive soloists jazz has to offer; Bobby's mastery is proving to be as rich as ever, and is thankfully being captured on CD with refreshing regularity.

The Guardian's recent review of Snapshots commented "...almost as good as being at a Wellins gig." There is also the aforementioned Clifford Brown feature with Gary Kavanagh, and When The Sun Comes Out, recorded live at the Appleby Festival.

Judicious scheduling tonight brings a tantalising taste of Bobby playing with some new partners, Frank being a popular performer in many guises, often of course with Gilad Atzmon. Jeremy and Steven have both regularly appeared with Peter King's quartet; Steven appeared last year with Nikki Iles Quintet, while Jeremy is due back soon with Anita Wardell and Kate Williams in their quartets.

For more information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Wellins.