NB Gigs at the North Devon Jazz Club are almost always on Mondays, starting at 8.30 unless otherwise stated. They take place at the Beaver Inn in Appledore. Entrance is free but there's a collection (please don't be mean - it helps pay the band). For more information, see the dedicated NDJC page.
13 May Art Themen Trio Art Themen has been a beloved character of the British jazz scene for sixty years, famously combining his role as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon with saxophone duties in the bands of Alexis Korner and Stan Tracey among many others. Art has travelled a long way musically. He was involved in the Manchester traditional jazz scene in the 1950s, then became part of the London blues scene in the 1960s and went on to develop his present very characterful saxophone style which originally owed much to that of Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins but then came under such disparate influences as Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane. To quote Dave Gelly in The Observer ‘Themen is one of the very few totally original, utterly engaging jazz musicians around’ and to quote London Jazz News ‘in any other country he’d be regarded as a national treasure.’ Joining Art will be George Double on drums and Pete Whittaker on organ.
20 May Sophie Smiles Band
Sophie Smiles is a talented and versatile pianist and bass player based in Westward Ho! She learnt piano from listening to the great New Orleans master Dr John and plays honky tonk and Southern funk and blues. For this gig, which is part of the Appledore Music Festival, she will bring her band, featuring the best local musicians.
10 June Dave Storey Trio
Dave Storey has established himself as one of the leading drummers and first call sidemen on the London jazz scene. He is well known for his big sound on the drums and for his work as a bandleader. Dave will bring his star-studded trio to play contemporary straight-ahead jazz marked by a high degree of interplay and understanding between the musicians, a relationship developed through several years of playing and touring together.. To quote London Jazz News audiences can expect ‘ ‘Twisty trips around post-bop topography, fuelled by high-octane virtuoso drumming’.
Joining Dave will be two multi-ward winning musicians: saxophonist James Allsopp (‘perhaps the most gifted British saxophonist of his generation’ to quote Underscore Music Magazine ) and Conor Chaplin of whom UK Jazz News commented ‘He has a wonderful capacity to communicate the joy of having just landed on a new idea, a texture, line, a rhythmic kick, to produce endlessly the sound of surprise.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iew43ShM4tM&ab_channel=ClonmellJazzSocial
24 June Julian Costello Quartet 8 July B.D. Lenz Trio 9 September Liane Carroll. Return to The Beaver of wonderful multi-award-winning singer/pianist 16 September Nicolas Meir World Group 7 October Adam Glasser Quartet 14 October Tomorrow’s New Quartet 18 November Ben Crosland Trio 2 December Out Front (Nick Malcolm Quintet) 16 December QOW TRIO (Riley Stone-Lonergan – tenor sax, Eddie Myer – double bass, Spike Wells – drums)QOW TRIO is a cross-generational ensemble that takes its name from a composition written by the late saxophonist Dewey Redman.
The saxophone chair is occupied by QOW TRIO’S youngest member, Riley Stone-Lonergan An accomplished large ensemble player, he learned his trade as a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO). Bassist Eddie Myer is based in Brighton and is a musician, composer, bandleader, promoter, educator and journalist. He leads his own five piece group, The Eddie Myer 5tet, a band that also includes Stone-Lonergan. A professional bass player (both acoustic and electric) since 1996, Myer was worked regularly with the rock act Turin Brakes and with the Afro-Cuban ensemble Son Guarachando. Now based in Brighton, drummer Spike Wells is the veteran of the trio. He came to prominence on the London jazz scene in the 1960s and has worked with many of the greats of the music. Wells is probably best known for his associations with saxophonists Tubby Hayes and Bobby Wellins but he has also performed with saxophonists Ronnie Scott, Joe Harriott, Peter King, Don Weller, Dick Morrissey, Tony Coe, Alan Barnes and Simon Spillett, trumpeters Humphrey Lyttleton and Henry Lowther, pianists Mick Pyne, John Horler, Mark Edwards and Gwilym Simcock, bassists Ron Matthewson and Dave Green and many, many more. As well as working with some of the legends of British Jazz Wells’ association with Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club also led to him accompanying a range of international musicians, mainly from the USA. These included saxophonists Dexter Gordon, Teddy Edwards, Johnny Griffin, James Moody, Charles MacPherson, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Sonny Stitt, trumpeter Art Farmer, valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, pianist Cedar Walton and vocalist / pianist Blossom Dearie. Wells also enjoyed an association with the Norwegian musicians Arild Andersen (bass) and Jon Balke (keyboards).
In this piano-less format the three musicians tackle their chosen material in a highly adventurous manner, taking inspiration from the free jazz of the 1960s and 70s but still sounding remarkably contemporary. There’s a strong reliance on improvisation and spontaneous interaction, this is very much a trio of equals and with Myer acting as mediator the musical conversation between the trio’s youngest and oldest members is sometimes quite exceptional. “We see QOW TRIO as looking back to the heroes of the music, and looking forward to a future of endless, unlimited possibilities” explains Myer, summing up the trio’s approach.
Further details of the above to follow when available