Jim Moray

Andy Sheppard, solo tenor and soprano saxophonist.

Don’t miss this! A real treat and not just for jazz lovers, this is a chance to get up close and personal with one of the UK’s leading jazz musicians and composers. For those who think they aren’t into jazz, come and be entranced by Andy’s lyrical, weaving tunes and soulful playing, enhanced by his subtle use of live backing loops. Andy will play a single 75 minute set, to be followed by an informal question and answer session chaired by a local jazz enthusiast.

The man who has emerged as one of Britain’s foremost tenor and soprano saxophonists was introduced to the music of John Coltrane at the age of nineteen and immediately went out and bought his own saxophone. A successful recording artist, bandleader and composer (for film, TV and theatre), Andy Sheppard is one of a very few British jazz artists to have made a significant international impact. He has worked with an astonishing range of musical partners and is remarkably, one of a very few soloists to have played in the big bands of all three of the greatest post-war jazz composers, Carla Bley, George Russell and Gil Evans. Other collaborators have included Northumbrian piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, and eclectic pianist Joanna MacGregor. Andy has a string of albums to his name, including Learning to Wave (1998), Nocturnal Tourist(2001), Movements in Colour (2009) and his latest collaboration with Michel Benita and Sebastian Rochford, Trio Libero (2012).

Sheppard is always a compelling voice…’, Time Out

‘Romanticism, carefully managed anarchy and accessibility subtle, elegant jazz…’  The Guardian

Tickets £10/£9 concessions.

porticomusic.co.uk

Mercury Award nominated jazz pianist Kit Downes with bassist Calum Gourlay and James Maddren on drums.

A breathtaking improviser, and weaver of magical piano soundscapes, Kit Downes is world class’ ….Helen Mayhew, Jazz FM

Tickets £9, £8 Children £4

womad.org