Upcoming star Fraser Smith is a devotee of an almost-extinct breed of saxophonist who consistently play with deep feeling, attitude and commitment to the cause - swing. Thus, four of his primary inspirations are Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, Stanley Turrentine and Al Cohn. and his debut album, Tip Top!, is a fully acoustic, ‘classic’ jazz quartet recording firmly stationed in their style. An joyful evening of hard swinging jazz not to be missed.
'Original tunes which take the virtues of 50s and 60s hard bop and soul jazz and infuse them with a youthful enthusiasm born of the 21st century.' Ian Mann - Jazz Man
'Really sunny album, uplifting, full of the joy of living' - Adult Music Podcast
With pre gig menu from Mandira’s Kitchen
** Sold out - please contact us to enquire about any returns **
EVENT INFO
The performance is upstairs in Guildford Pavilion, The Sports Ground, Woodbridge Road, Guildford GU1 4RP
Please note there are no physical tickets, just give your name on the door when you arrive. There’ll be seating reserved for you.
Doors open from 7pm, supper served from 7.15pm, and the performance starts at 8pm. There will be an interval and there is a licensed bar. Seating is cabaret style and there is a lift for disabled access.
Pre-gig Indo Chinese Menu from Mandira’s Kitchen:
Vegetable Spring Rolls
Calcutta Chilli Chicken or Gobi Manchurian (Cauliflower tossed in a tangy sauce)
Schezwan Fried Rice
Prawn / Vegetable Crackers
If you have any questions please contact us by emailing info@guildfordjazz.org.uk
TICKETS
Full Price £20 /Guildford Jazz members £18
Students £7 / Student Members £5
Meals £13
WHO'S PLAYING?
FRASER SMITH - SAX
Fraser Smith relocated to the Capital in 2010 and has played professionally since. With a focus on swing and the straight ahead, he channels the sound and language of the big Tenor men.
His music harkens back to the Golden ages of jazz, from 40's Kansas City through to 60's New York,
Very much a working musician, Fraser plays between 250-300 gigs a year. He has led his own band at Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express Live, The Southbank Centre, The Vortex, Jazz Bar Edinburgh, The Verdict, JazzUp!, Swansea Jazz Land, The Green Note, The Bebop Club, New Generation Jazz, Snape Maltings, and Crazy Coq's to mention just a very small handful of past gigs. He has played London, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Swansea, Brecon, Bahrain, Guadalajara and Beijing jazz festivals and regularly performs on the continent with a variety of bands and projects.
Born in Birmingham, raised between the Midlands and Wales, Fraser first picked up the sax at the age of 15. He first came to the music of Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong and Ike Quebec through the Woolworth's bargain bucket. After studying hundreds of these solos, he considers himself a 'practical scholar', bringing these sounds of a bygone era to a modern stage.
'Some jazz musicians can’t help but devote themselves to a specific idiom or era. This is usually a necessity borne out of love and can thereby generate a heartfelt sincerity often absent from the self-consciously cutting-edge. Though nostalgia and romanticism for the ‘Golden Era’ of jazz - usually encased between the carefree 1920s and the moon landings - undoubtedly colour this view, it remains true that many of our finest instrumentalists, singers and fans alike have preferred to peer round the ultra-modern corner, back home to the past. The best of the artists who perform in older styles always avoid pastiche and manage to make bygone music - tied so utterly to specific social-history - seem completely relevant here and now. Fraser Smith is such an artist and Tip-Top is his brilliantly executed love-child.'
By Fraser Urquhart
ROB BARRON - PIANO
Rob Barron is a London based jazz pianist, arranger and composer and has been described as “one of the most creative and versatile musicians of his generation”. Born in East Yorkshire he started playing the piano at the age of five and by the time he was in his teens, was performing his first gigs with infamous local band Jazz Soup, playing a weekly residency in Hull that lasted over two years.
Rob moved to Leeds in 2000 to study Jazz at Leeds College of Music where he was awarded the prize for outstanding performance on the BA Hons programme. During his time in Leeds he played with Bob Mintzer, Tim Garland and Soweto Kinch and was a first call sideman for visiting artists. After four years of working as a pianist on the Leeds and Manchester scene, Rob moved to London in 2004 to further his studies at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, gaining an MMus with distinction in Music Performance. Rob has become a mainstay of the London jazz and studio scene playing with visiting American artists Al Jarreau, Marlena Shaw (Ronnie Scott’s club residencies,) Benny Golson, Phil Woods, Grant Stewart, Sheryl Bailey and in groups lead by leading UK artists Jacqui Dankworth, Stacey Kent, Claire Martin, Dave O’Higgins, Steve Fishwick, Allison Neale, Anita Wardell, Georgia Mancio and Jean Toussaint. Rob was also a member of the award winning group Kairos 4tet. He regularly appears with the BBC Big Band and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra.
STEVE BROWN - DRUMS
Steve has become one of the most sought after and sensitive drummers in the country and since studying in New York in the early 1990s has worked with almost every major British artist, as well as many visiting American musicians. Steve is a long term colleague of tenor star Scott Hamilton and his studio credits include albums with Stacey Kent, Dave Newton, Andy Panayi and various groups for Alan Barnes's Woodville label.
MARIANNE WINDHAM - BASS
The founder and driving force behind Guildford Jazz, Marianne started her musical life playing cello, taking up playing bass more recently. In 2011 she left a successful career in software consultancy to pursue learning bass full time and has since become well established on the scene and has performed with many of the UK’s leading jazz musicians including Alan Barnes, Steve Waterman, Mark Nightingale, Sara Dowling, Derek Nash, Dave O’Higgins and many others. She also chairs Fleet Jazz Club, and has a busy schedule performing both locally and at clubs and festivals around the country. “A valuable player… Brown-like musicality and drive” - Peter Vacher, Jazzwise
DIRECTIONS
The performance is upstairs in the Pavilion building at the Guildford County Cricket Club, The Sports Ground, Woodbridge Road, Guildford GU1 4RP
For sat navs please check the postcode takes you to Wharf Road. There’s a car park alongside, entry from Wharf Road. If you’re approaching from Guildford town centre, Wharf Road is on the left just before the Sports Ground. If you’re approaching from the A3/Ladymead there’s no right turn into Wharf Road, but continue to the next roundabout to double back.
If the car park’s full (please only park in marked bays to leave room for emergency access), there are a few parking bays along Wharf Road which you can use after 7pm, also along the Woodbridge Road on the left as you come from the Town centre.
The overflow car park at the far end of the cricket pitch will also be open unless it’s very wet. Turn left as you come out of Wharf Road and carry on along Woodbridge Road towards the railway bridge, and the entrance to the ground is just before the end of the green fence that runs along the perimeter of the ground, next to the Woodbridge Café.
There’s also a larger public car park at the open air Mary Road Car Park (GU1 4QU) or multi-storey Bedford Road Car Park (GU1 4SJ), which is about 10 minutes walk away.
SEATING
Seating is either in front row settees/armchairs, central round tables, or rear high chairs/tables. Seats will be reserved for you when you book. If you’re a Guildford Jazz member, please let us know if you have a seating preference in on the booking form. Notes on the layout:
Front row: Seats 1, 3 and 4 are 3-seater settees, and seats 2 and 5 are pairs of armchairs.
Middle tables: Tables 6 to 23 and 32 are small tables , each seating 4 (for bookings of 1 or 2 seats, we’ll seat you at a table with others, please let us know if you have friends coming who you’d like to sit with!).
Rear tables: Tables 24 to 29 are tall tables suitable for 2 people, with high stools.
Tables 30 and 31 are lower square tables seating 3 or can be put togther for a group of 8
Groups: Table 33 is suitable for a large group of 8 (or a cozy 10!)