A great way to start the season with this new quintet fronted by Jake McMurchie - tenor sax and Nick Malcolm - trumpet. Jake's other band The Blessing has just won Best Album in the BBC Jazz Awards. Nick is starting a post-grad performance course at Trinity College this autumn. They are joined by the fantastic rhythm section of Jim Blomfield - piano, Thad Kelly - bass and Simon Gore - drums.

Trumpeter Rory Simmons is one of the most dynamic and exciting musicians on the UK jazz scene, gaining a reputation as a cutting edge band leader and performer. He has been working with Jamie Cullum's band for the past couple of years, appearing at international festivals such as Antibes & Montreal, and supported Herbie Hancock at Umbria. His quartet tour is supported by Jazz Services, and includes the wonderful Ivo Neame - piano, Jasper Hoiby - bass & Dave Smith - drums. See www.rorysimmons.com & myspace.com/rorysimmons

Kevin is well known on Bristol's jazz scene, and works in diverse settings such as Brazilian band Sirius B, Keith Tippett's Big Band and the Welsh Jazz Composers' Orchestra with pianist Huw Warren. His own writing is strongly melodic, but reflects the rhythmic intricacies of main influences Dave Holland & Chris Potter. Tonight is the launch of the quartet's new CD, so bring a few extra £'s. The band's latest addition is the astonishing drummer Tim Giles - still in his mid-20s he has been playing with artists such as Iain Ballamy, Django Bates, Julian Arguelles & Stan Sulzmann since his teens. The ever excellent Jim Blomfield  - piano & Riaan Vosloo - bass complete the line up. Click Here for more on Tim.

Trombonist Gareth leads this up-beat groove based quintet from their South Wales base. The band is touring nationally with Jazz Services support, and was nominated for this by the Lichfield District Arts Association under the Promoter's Choice scheme. Gareth's compositions are influenced by Mingus, Dave Holland & the Blue Note era, and he made a big splash at this year's Glastonbury Jazz Lounge. Joining Gareth in the frontline is trumpet ace Gethin Liddington, with Paul Jones - piano, Chis O'Connor - bass & Mark O'Connor - drums. See www.garethtrombone.co.uk

A first outing for this new project playing a set of original pieces written by pianist Mark. This latest collaboration returns to the classic acoustic trio format playing a mix of mellow tunes, grooves and improv with some unexpected twists and turns. Mark and drummer Bob Helson were founder members of the Bristol Musicians Coop and part of the creative Bristol jazz scene during the seventies and eighties, and performed on Jazz in Britain with Both Hands Free, Bullit and Outloud. For this return to the scene they are joined by bassist Paul Anstey, who has been a stalwart of the Bristol scene for many years, playing with the legendary Klaunstance which featured Andy Sheppard & Jerry Underwood on saxes, and recording several album with Tim Richard's Spirit Level. Mark Langford - piano, Paul Anstey - double bass and Bob Helson - drums.

Brigitte was born in Italy to Turkish/British parents, grew up in Monaco, and has been based in London for the past ten years or so. Her voice has a wonderful clarity, and her album has received glowing reviews from such diverse musicians as Humphrey Lyttelton, Kenny Wheeler, Cleo Laine & US bassist Rufus Reid. She is joined by the fantastic Ivo Neame - piano [also with Rory Simmons] and Joe Auckland - trumpet. Joe has worked with Madness, The James Taylor Quartet and Gwilym Simcock's Quintet. Whilst the voice, trumpet & piano combination inevitably brings to mind Norma Winstone's collaborations with Kenny Wheeler & John Taylor, some of the music has more of a Brazilian flavour recalling Tania Maria & Flora Purim. Listen here Myspace and www.brigitteberaha.com

Standing for The Kenny Garrett Project. Since coming to fame with Miles Davis in the early 90s Kenny Garrett has remained at the top of the jazz ladder, and is one of the true greats of the alto sax. This tribute concentrates on Garrett's compositions, some of which trumpeter Andy Hague has been busy transcribing over the past year or so. Joining Andy in the frontline is our very own alto firebrand James Gardner-Bateman [pictured], who will at this time be half way through his first term at The Royal Academy, with Jim Blomfield - piano, Thad Kelly - bass & Simon Gore - drums. Whilst some of Garrett's album tracks can sound perilously smooth, his live shows are visceral burning affairs, and this is what we'll be trying to give a flavour of.

John Law is a virtuoso pianist equally at home in the worlds of classical, free improvisation and jazz. His latest trio CD The Art Of Sound has been described as "Intricate, intimate and lovely... a masterclass in lyricism" - Jazzwise. In 2004 John received an Arts Council Touring Grant for his 12 piece classical/jazz project Out Of The Darkness, which featured Andy Sheppard on saxophones. For tonight John is joined by Thad Kelly on bass, best known for his work with Partisans, and Andy Hague - drums. For more info see Myspace and John Law's site.

Ed Jones is one of the UK's top tenor saxophonists, known worldwide for his work with US3 and Incognito. He has also worked as a session musician with Chaka Khan, D'Angelo, Herbie Hancock (Headhunters),Omar, Aswad, Tina Turner and many more. To continue our great jazz composers theme [KGP, Silverado] Ed will be exclusively performing tunes composed by Wayne Shorter. Ed's last few visits have been with a quintet, tonight we present him in a quartet setting so that whilst playing Shorter he can play for longer. Well you try writing this stuff. With Jim Blomfield - piano, London bass star Riaan Vosloo & Andy Hague - drums.

Trumpeter Andy Hague has been part of Bristol's jazz scene for over twenty years, and continues to develop the quintet's repertoire both through his own composing and by transcribing interesting material not to be found in the Real Books. Reviewing the quintet's 2007 national Jazz Services tour Phil Johnson wrote in The Independent On Sunday "The collective impact of what amounts to a South-West supergroup was close to overpowering". Tonight's line-up comprises Andy - trumpet/flugel, BBC Jazz Awards winner Jake McMurchie - tenor sax, Jim Blomfield - piano, Thad Kelly - bass & Simon Gore - drums.

Cameron Pierre, though born in London, was largely raised in his family's homeland of Dominica. Beginning his career playing reggae & calypso, he later became interested in jazz and the styles of masters such as Wes Montgomery & George Benson. Back in the UK Cameron became famous working with Courtney Pine, with who's band he has now toured worldwide. Cameron is joined by Bristol's very own funky Swede Anders Olinder - organ and London based drummer Robert Fordjour, who has also worked with Courtney Pine, Tomorrow's Warrior's etc. A great night of soulful grooving jazz in prospect.

Described by Jazzwise magazine as "Excellent forward thinking Brit Jazz, hip and unpredictable with taste to spare", the Jones O'Connor Group are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the increasingly vital jazz scene in Wales. Influenced by post-rock innovators as much as by jazz, they have drawn comparisons with bands such as Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland. Richard Jones - guitar, Paul Jones - piano, Chris O'Connor - bass & Mark O'Connor - drums. Paul was composer in residence for Brecon Jazz Festival 2006, and recently packed out the Wales Millennium Centre with the inaugural performance of his new piano duo with Keith Tippett (with whom both he and Richard studied at the RWCMD).

Azhaar is probably best know as the vocalist in Brazilian band Sirius B, but this is her jazz quartet in which she plays violin as well as singing. She studied violin at the Royal Northern College, and plays numbers by Freddie Hubbard and Chick Corea rather than Grappelli style swing. Tonight is the launch of her new quartet album featuring several originals by Azhaar and pianist Joe Cavanagh. The CD is a great listen, with guest appearances from Jason Rebello, Iain Ballamy, Mike Mower & trumpeter Mike Peake, so you can purchase with confidence. Joining Azhaar & Joe are the fabulous rhythm team of Thad Kelly - bass & Scott Hammond - drums. See azhaarsaffar.com

This new project from the ever inventive pianist Mike Willox combines him with Kevin Figes - sax, John Short - bass & Gethin Jones - drums. As Mike says "We'll be playing tunes from the golden days of Cannonball Adderley and Ramsey Lewis. Think the Lighthouse on Hermosa Beach in the early sixties and add the unpredictable ingredients of the post-modern world. I'm sure you can phrase that more eloquently in your blurb." Well no I can't, but it sounds like another cracking gig.

This tribute to pianist Horace Silver has been running for some years now, but Silver has had such a long career and has been such a prolific composer that there is still a wealth of material as yet untapped, so fear not, there'll be some new tunes. Describing his own writing, Silver talks of "meaningful simplicity" which pretty much sums up the effect of his generally joyous and blues drenched [if that's not a contradiction] music. Having said that, some of it's really hard to play. Andy Hague - trumpet, Kevin Figes - alto sax, Jake McMurchie - tenor sax, Jim Blomfield - piano, Thad Kelly - bass & Simon Gore - drums. We're hoping that the band's regular tenor player Ben Waghorn will be able to join us in the second set after finishing Panto duties at Bristol Hippodrome.