Benn Clatworthy lives in Los Angeles but returns home to the UK a couple of times a year. He is an absolutely amazing tenor saxophonist, and is the closest thing to John Coltrane you are ever likely hear at the Be-Bop. "Every bit the player that Joshua Redman is." - JazzReview.com. "A master player" - LA Weekly. "A truly majestic sound" - LA City Beat. For this visit Benn is backed by the Jonathan Taylor Trio, Jon on piano, Dave Goodier on bass & Andy Hague on drums. See www.bennclatworthy.com

Trumpeter Andy Hague has been part of Bristol's jazz scene for over two decades, 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. This line-up of the band performed at St. George's Brandon Hill in January to mark the 20th anniversary of the Be-Bop Club. "The collective impact of what amounts to a South-West supergroup was close to overpowering" - The Independent On Sunday. Andy Hague - trumpet, Ben Waghorn - tenor sax, Jim Blomfield - piano, Thad Kelly - bass & Daisy Palmer - drums.
See myspace/andyhaguequintet

This longstanding trio plays a mixture of original material and tunes from the wider jazz canon, always with an ear for a strong melody. The trio described by Venue as 'one of the best local exponents of the form', are launching their new album 'Suite Gorgeous'. Recorded at the end of last year with saxophonist Lee Goodall guesting, the album showcases the close interaction of the trio with great playing all round and their trademark contemporary melodic writing and arranging. Mike Collins - piano, Dorian Sutton - bass & Trevor Davies - drums have all established themselves as regulars on the jazz scene in Bristol and the South West whilst Lee Goodall - saxophones has been a star of the English and Welsh scenes for a number of years playing with everyone from Van Morrison to Andy Sheppard and most recently on Paula Gardiner's trio album Hot Lament. See www.mikecollinstrio.com

Jeff Spencer is a fantastic bass guitarist and composer who plays with Afro-beat band Helele and Pee Wee Ellis, and has been sharing writing duties for the Resonation big band with Jim Blomfield & Kevin Figes.  He has recently released his first album Everything Was Fine Until Now featuring many of Bristol's finest players on his superb compositions influenced by Steely Dan, Weather Report and Zappa. For this live outing we have James Gardiner-Bateman - alto sax, Josh Arcoleo - tenor sax, Jerry Crozier-Cole - guitar, Rebecca Nash - piano, Jeff Spencer - bass & Daisy Palmer - drums. See myspace/jeffspencer

Another chance to hear the wonderful guitar playing of Jerry Crozier-Cole, this time performing his own compositions. Jerry is also a regular with the Pee Wee Ellis Assembly, and has performed at the Montreaux Jazz Festival & The North Sea Jazz Festival. Jerry is joined by the fantastic Ben Waghorn - tenor sax, Will Harris - bass & Daisy Palmer - drums. You can listen to some of Jerry's recent compositions here
myspace/jerrycroziercole

Five Spot played their first gig together at the Bebop Club in November 2007. Influenced by Wayne Shorter, Eric Dolphy, Dave Douglas and Ornette Coleman, they play original compositions with groove bits, free bits and other bits. They've recently recorded their first album and are looking to tour nationally later this year. Nick Malcolm - trumpet, Kevin Figes - alto sax, James Chadwick - guitar, Olie Brice - bass & Mark Whitlam - drums.