To help us celebrate the Be-Bop Club's 20th year, St. George's present a jazz double-bill. The Andy Hague Quintet perform the first half, with Andy - trumpet, Ban Waghorn - tenor sax, Jim Blomfield - piano, Thad Kelly - bass & Daisy Palmer - drums. The second half features The Dave Stapleton Sextet, with pianist & composer Dave [pictured] leading Jonny Bruce - trumpet, Kevin Figes - alto sax, Ben Waghorn - tenor sax, Paula Gardiner - bass & Elliot Bennett - drums.

For full info see St. George's website.

It's been brilliant to see the south west produce some young players of real quality in recent years, and tonight's new line-up reunites the cream of the crop. From the Royal Academy we have Josh Arcoleo - tenor sax [pictured] and James Gardiner-Bateman - alto sax, and from Trinity College we have pianist Laurie Erskine. Completing the band are two of Laurie's new Trinity colleagues, Ferg Ireland - bass and Matt Fisher - drums. Josh has appeared at festivals all over Europe with his mentor Pee Wee Ellis, and James has been playing with Dennis Rollins' Badbone. If you can't wait you can hear them all on myspace/jamesgardinerbateman

Vocalist Cathy has become increasingly in demand over the past couple of years, both in Latin and straight ahead jazz settings. Tonight's repertoire will reflect this diversity with numbers by Jobim, Cole Porter, Ellington & Kenny Wheeler plus some originals. Cathy will be accompanied by Jim Blomfield - piano, Will Harris - bass & Andy Hague - drums.

Pianist Barry Green is a rising star of the London scene. He's been working with Jean Toussaint, Ingrid Laubrock and Bobby Wellins, and will shortly be touring Spain with Pete King. His latest trio album features the New York musicians Ben Street and Jeff Williams. This quartet tour for Jazz Services includes saxophonist Mark Hanslip, an integral member of London's Loop Collective, Oli Hayhurst - bass, who was in Gilad Atzmon's band for several years, and the brilliant drumming of Tim Giles, who is now also playing with Kevin Figes' band. See www.moletone.com and Myspace

A double guest special with Simon Savage - tenor sax & Mark Bassey - trombone. Simon [formerly known as Simon Haysom] is a former NYJO member who studied at Leeds and the Guildhall, and is now busy on the London & Brighton scenes. Mark Bassey is one of the UK's leading trombonists, and has worked with Loose Tubes, Julian Arguelles & Brotherhood of Breath. The two have a great pad of arrangements in the Jazz Messengers vein, and are backed for this performance by Jim Blomfield - piano, Will Harris - bass & Andy Hague - drums.
See www.markbassey.com

Nia Lynn is a superb vocalist, originally from Wales and now resident in London. The Bannau Trio takes its name from the Welsh for Brecon Beacons, and combines traditional and folk influences with jazz standards and original compositions. Nia is joined by two fantastic musicians, pianist Ross Stanley & flautist Gareth Lockrane. Ross works frequently with Be-Bop regular Riaan Vosloo in Nostalgia 77, and also plays with Renato D'Aiello & Dylan Howe's Quintet. Gareth is becoming recognised as one of the world's leading jazz flautists, and has been nominated in the 2008 Rising Star category in the legendary US jazz magazine Downbeat. The trio's music is highly interactive with all three members carrying equal weight, and is highly recommended.

Trumpeter Andrew won the Young Jazz Musician of the Year contest in 1999, and is a graduate of Leeds College. Although now based in Bristol he still works a lot in the north of England, and brings some of his colleagues from the area down for this Jazz Services Tour to promote their new CD "I Remember You."  He plays with a beautiful mellow sound and exquisite phrasing. Pianist Jamil Sheriff is a lecturer at Leeds College and York University, and is one of the busiest performers across the north. Manchester bassist Jon Thorne is active on the both the UK jazz and pop/dance scene. He is probably best known as the bassist in the band Lamb, who have released 5 albums to date. Drummer John Perry spent much of the 90s playing in Europe, and since his return to the UK has gained a formidable reputation performing with musicians such as Kenny Wheeler, Soweto Kinch, Guy Barker, Bobby Wellins & Julian Joseph. See www.andrewcolman.com

2008 was a busy year for saxophonist Ben Waghorn, tutoring alongside Keith Tippett at the Dartington Summer School and gigging extensively with Dave Stapleton's Quintet. DSQ released their second highly acclaimed album "The House Always Wins" in September, and subsequently toured the Balkans and played at Cork Jazz Festival on the same bill as Chick Corea. National critics are now all taking notice of Ben's fantastic playing, and he's hoping to release his first quartet album sometime this year. Ben is joined by the powerhouse piano playing of Jim Blomfield, London's ace of bass Riaan Vosloo and Andy Hague on drums.

Pianist Jonathan was a central figure in Bristol's jazz scene before moving to London a few years ago. He now teaches at the Guildhall and performs with Tango Siempre, one of the UK's leading tango groups, also composing and arranging much of their repertoire. "It's Taylor's mature compositional voice, together with the group's elegant flair for tango, that makes this an engaging and pleasurable listen on every level." - The Guardian. For this return visit to Bristol Jonathan has decided to concentrate on the compositions of French piano genius Michel Petrucciani, who sadly died in 1999 at the age of 36. Joining Jon to perform Petrucciani's wonderful compositions are Bristol's premier bassist Dave Goodier & drummer Andy Hague. See myspace/tangosiempre

This excellent band is touring again with Jazz Services support, and produced a great gig on their last visit in Oct 07. Most of the music is composed by guitarist Jez Franks, who is a senior lecturer at Leeds College. Jez has worked with most of the big names in jazz on the London scene, and Rick Astley. Saxophonist Tori Freestone also teaches at Leeds College, and has worked with The Creative Jazz Orchestra and Orquesta Timbala. Bassist Jasper Hoiby is from Copenhagen, and stayed in London after studying at the Royal Academy, working with Gerard Presencer, Pete Wareham, Seb Rochford and many more. Drummer Ben Reynolds plays in the highly acclaimed band Fraud. Fresh sounding melodic contemporary jazz, superbly performed.