Alan Barnes is one of Britain's most prolific and best-loved jazz musicians — an international performer, composer, arranger and bandleader best known for his virtuosic work on clarinet, alto and baritone saxophone. Few musicians combine his technical command with such warmth, wit and collaborative spirit.
For more than three decades, Alan Barnes has been a first-call saxophonist and clarinettist for studio and live work across the UK and beyond. His recorded catalogue runs to more than thirty albums as leader or co-leader, alongside session and sideman credits with artists as varied as Björk, Bryan Ferry, Michel Legrand, Clare Teal, Westlife, Jools Holland and Jamie Cullum.
He has toured and held residencies with some of jazz's most demanding names, including Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vaché, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen and Conte Candoli. Early in his career, he was singled out and hired by the giants of British jazz — Stan Tracey, John Dankworth, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber and Humphrey Lyttelton — and he has built equally lasting creative partnerships with contemporaries David Newton, Bruce Adams and Martin Taylor.
Alan's musicianship, relentless touring schedule and natural rapport with audiences have made him one of the most popular figures in British jazz. He has won more than 25 British Jazz Awards — most recently for clarinet in 2014 — and has twice been named BBC Jazz Musician of the Year.
Craig Milverton
Craig was born in Bexley, Kent and took piano lessons from the ages of 7 -12, but has no formal jazz training. Craig’s main influences are Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. In 1994 he toured across California, including performances at the Sacramento Jazz Festival. From 1995 -1998, Craig was part of Terry Lightfoot’s Jazz Band. Regular UK and European tours followed. He also toured twice across the Middle East and played two broadcasts for ‘Jazz Notes’.The year 2000 saw Craig and clarinettist Julian Stringle perform the first ever jazz concert in Albania in a marble pyramid! The years 2000-2001 saw Craig performing regularly with the Post Office sponsored group ‘First Class Sounds’ and an extended feature and front cover in May’s edition of Jazz Journal International. and from 2002-2007 was the backing unit for the late George Melly, recording 3 acclaimed CD’s and including 4 month long residencies at Ronnie Scotts. The year 2003 saw him on the front cover of Jazz Journal International with a feature article and his CD ‘It’s a Jazz Life’ was CD of the month in The Observer.In 2005 his trio CD ‘Three Flow’ was reviewed by Richard Palmer (Biographer for Oscar Peterson’s ‘A Jazz Odessey’) and was his choice for CD of the year for Jazz Journal International.In February 2007 he performed in New York with saxophonist Carol Sudhalter and was asked to play the same week at the birthplace of modern jazz, Mintons Playhouse in Harlem. Craig continues to perform in a host of musical situations.s through and he is a natural at whatever he plays.
The Craig Milverton Tro includes Al Swainger on Bass and Coach York on Drums.
Performance starts at 7:30pm, doors from 6:30pm with bar available.
Tickets:
General admission: £20
Students: £10
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