London » Calendar » Nick Smart's Birthday Celebration Gig at 606 Club

Nick Smart's Birthday Celebration Gig at 606 Club

Courtesy of Laura G Thorne | Posted on May 21, 2015

Where

606 Club
90 Lots Road
London
Map
+44 020 7352 5953

When

Sun, June 7, 2015
19:00

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Musicians

About

Friends coming together to celebrate your birthday is always a nice thing to do, but when you are not only a terrific trumpet player but also one of the country’s leading educators and your friends are world-class musicians, then it becomes something a little special. Tonight we will be hosting a gig to celebrate Nick Smart's birthday that boasts some of the finest jazz musicians in Europe. Nick has established himself in the varied worlds of both small group and big band jazz, including work with the likes of the Stan Sulzmann Big Band, London Jazz Orchestra, Michael Garrick Big Band and the BBC Big Band and is the regular soloist with the James Taylor Quartet. As an Educator, he was invited to create and direct the Royal Academy of Music Junior Jazz Course and this was so successful he was rapidly appointed Jazz Co-ordinator and then Bmus Tutor at the Royal Academy. The gig itself will feature a number of different bands performing through the evening, starting with the Mark Lockheart/John Parricelli quintet. Mark is a wonderful sax player who includes work with bands such as The Perfect Houseplants and Polar Bear on an impressive cv (see Wed 10th) and he will be appearing with the iconic UK guitarist John Parricelli, who has been seen with bands as diverse as Loose Tubes and the Strictly Come Dancing TV band (great band, incidentally). Also featured in this quintet will be former Academy students Matt Robinson (piano), and Misha Mullov Abbado (bass) with Tim Giles (drums). Next up for those who like modern jazz vocals is a group to savour, featuring both Norma Winstone MBE and Christine Tobin on vocals as well as pianist Nikki Illes and trumpeter Henry Lowther. Norma is without question the doyenne of UK modern jazz vocalists, if you were to ask any vocalist to name their three favourite UK singers of all time, I can guarantee Norma will be on that list. From her work with Azimuth and the ECM label in the 1970s through to her more recent work with the likes of Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor and a host of high profile European artists Norma has without question established herself as one of the great UK singers. The multi-award-winning Christine Tobin (Jazz Vocalist of the Year, Parliamentary Jazz Awards, BBC Jazz Awards) has been a standout musician on the UK scene for more than 25 years. With 10 albums to her name and a host of Club and Festival dates around the world she has undoubtedly established herself as a force to be reckoned with at the very highest levels. The band that will be supporting these two great performers includes pianist Nikki Iles (see Tues 30th for more about Nikki), to my mind one of the finest modern jazz pianists in Europe, and the highly regarded trumpet player Henry Lowther, who first hit the UK jazz scene in the late 1960's with the John Dankworth band and has been a mainstay of the scene ever since. Completing this quite remarkable line up will be Steve Watts on bass and Tim Giles, drums. The third set of the evening will feature "Pigfoot", a terrific, fun band that features Chris Batchelor-trumpet, Paul Clarvis-drums, Liam Noble-piano and Oren Marshall-tuba. This is an ensemble made up of from some of the best players on the contemporary scene, who between them include work with the likes of Loose Tubes, Mike Brecker, Harrison Birtwistle, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Wheeler, Bobby Wellins, the LSO and Bobby McFerrin! The music they play is a re-working of popular songs, recently described as "...passing classic pop through a multi-idiomatic mangle while still sounding like affectionate fans of the originals...targets...were...Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes, reworked with a mixture of delicate poignancy and bumpy street-band nonchalance.". The whole evening will be rounded off with a jam session featuring the mastermind of this evening’s festivities, the saxophonist Stan Sulzmann who is widely acknowledged as one of the finest musicians of his generation. This promises to be an amazing and hugely enjoyable evening, full of wonderful music and plenty of fun! All proceeds collected on the night, incidentally, will be donated to a Charity of Nick's choice. Booking strongly advised....

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