Chris Allard Band at South Hill Park Arts Centre

Acclaimed guitarist Chris Allard and band perform originals from eagerly awaited second album.

The award winning musician/composer, Chris Allard, has long been regarded as one of the UK’s finest contemporary jazz guitarists and the first choice of many top artists. He has played extensively at major festivals and prestigious venues around the world and performed with Carleen Anderson, Jamie Cullum, Jacqui Dankworth, John Dankworth, Tim Garland, Michael Garrick, John Helliwell (Supertramp), Gwyneth Herbert, Cleo Laine, Dave O’Higgins and Steve Waterman, to name a few.

Open Spaces, Chris’s highly acclaimed debut solo album, with his own formidable band of top-drawer musicians, was launched in autumn 2009 at the Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho. Since then, numerous accolades have firmly established the Chris Allard Band as one of the most exciting young jazz fusion outfits based in the UK....

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Acclaimed guitarist Chris Allard and band perform originals from eagerly awaited second album.

The award winning musician/composer, Chris Allard, has long been regarded as one of the UK’s finest contemporary jazz guitarists and the first choice of many top artists. He has played extensively at major festivals and prestigious venues around the world and performed with Carleen Anderson, Jamie Cullum, Jacqui Dankworth, John Dankworth, Tim Garland, Michael Garrick, John Helliwell (Supertramp), Gwyneth Herbert, Cleo Laine, Dave O’Higgins and Steve Waterman, to name a few.

Open Spaces, Chris’s highly acclaimed debut solo album, with his own formidable band of top-drawer musicians, was launched in autumn 2009 at the Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho. Since then, numerous accolades have firmly established the Chris Allard Band as one of the most exciting young jazz fusion outfits based in the UK.

An eagerly awaited new album of original material is to be recorded by the quintet in December and released next spring.

Tonights line-up is:

Chris Allard: Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Graeme Blevins: Saxes
Malcolm Edmonstone: Piano and Keyboards
Oli Hayhurst: Double Bass
Nick Smalley: Drums

Chris Allard references, amongst others, Pat Metheny, Radiohead, Miles Davis and Kurt Rosenwinkel....His tone is varied from warm 'jazz'..to rocking with bluesy angular lines …somewhere between Scofield and Carlton with a dash of fleet footing Martino.....Open Spaces demonstrates enough compositional and stylistic colour from his five-man band to suggest bebop is far from being Allard’s only (jazz) brush. For fans of Pat Metheny, Pat Martino, Andy Summers (with his jazz hat on). Guitarist magazine (4 stars)

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