Jazz gigs coming to Aberdeen...

Thursday 18th June 09 - The Lemon Tree Lounge - 8pm (doors 7.30 pm)

Gilad Atzmon’s Real Jazz Quartet

Gilad Atzmon is one of the most exciting saxophonists in jazz today. A ferociously gifted musician who has worked with such diverse talents as Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, and Robert Wyatt, he plays with extraordinary fluency and a surging passion that brings the creative spirit of the great saxophone masters Charlie Parker and John Coltrane into the twenty-first century. With a band featuring the hugely resourceful pianist Frank Harrison, sure-footed bassist Jeremy Brown and powerfully alert drummer Stephen Keogh, Atzmon presents jazz full of muscle, meat and melodic fire. http://gilad.co.uk/real-jazz-quartet.htm

"A formidable improvisational array...a local jazz giant steadily drawing himself up to his full height...a blast of fresh air in the UK" John Fordham, The Guardian

This performance is promoted by Jazz at the Lemon Tree www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

The New Couriers

Carrying the same message of forthright commitment aligned to hard-driving swing, The New Couriers are the rightful heirs to the pioneering group led by saxophonist-jazz club owner Ronnie Scott and saxophone-vibraphone virtuoso Tubby Hayes who lit up London in the late 1950s. Featuring two members of Scott’s later band, former Oscar Peterson drummer Martin Drew and saxophonist Mornington Lockett, and new vibraphone star Jim Hart alongside classy pianist and bassist Steve Melling and Paul Morgan, The New Couriers blaze with intensity, vigour and accomplishment.

“It's irresistible, no matter what your taste in jazz” Dave Gelly, The Observer

This performance is promoted by Jazz at the Lemon Tree www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

Thursday 23rd July 09 - The Lemon Tree Lounge - 8 pm (doors 7.30 pm)

Graeme Stephen Sextet

Guitarist Graeme Stephen is one of the most exciting jazz talents to emerge in recent times, a musician who solos with edgy, melodic invention and a composer whose imagination naturally connects jazz traditions with world-wide influences. Featuring the penetrating saxophones of Martin Kershaw (alto) and Fraser Fifield (soprano) alongside Shetland fiddler Chris Stout’s virtuosity and the powerful yet sensitive rhythm team of Brazilian bassist Mario Caribe and drummer Stu Ritchie, Stephen’s sextet is a magnificent creative force.

http://www.myspace.com/graemestephensextet

“..a beacon of original, ambitious and brilliantly realised music.” Rob Adams, The Herald

This performance is promoted by Jazz at the Lemon Tree www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

Aberdeen International Youth Festival presents:

Patrick Kunka Jazz Quartet

Aberdeen-born drummer-composer Patrick Kunka’s quartet brings together Scotland’s hottest young jazz talents who are currently gaining recognition on the other side of the Atlantic. Kunka drums with a natural stylishness enhanced by studies with masters including Terri Lyne Carrington. With pianist Alan Benzie, winner of the inaugural Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year title in 2007, the exceptional altoist Leah Gough-Cooper and bassist Dylan Coleman , he presents attractive, invigorating jazz full of youthful accomplishment and inquiry.http://www.myspace.com/patrickkunkaquartet

"Awesome drumming.. ..very talented.." - Russell Ferante

This performance is promoted by Jazz at the Lemon Tree www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

Aberdeen International Youth Festival presents:

Jamie Safiruddin Quartet & Stavanger University Jazz Ensemble

A big hit at Aberdeen International Youth Festival 2008, Manchester-based pianist Jamie Safiruddin’s highly talented group returns with thoughtfully reinvented standards and groovy original tunes reflecting influences including Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans and EST. They’re joined by Stavanger University Ensemble in a double bill of refreshingly vibrant, creative and accessible jazz.

http://www.myspace.com/jamiesafmusic

This performance is promoted by Jazz at the Lemon Tree www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

Phil Bancroft Quartet

One of the UK’s leading saxophonists, Phil Bancroft has developed an immediately recognisable sound entirely of his own through deep immersion in jazz saxophone history and an enthusiasm for European traditional music forms. Combining tough eloquence with tender lyrical expression, his work ranges from the maverick Trio AAB and trumpeter Colin Steele’s Miles Davis tributes to folk orchestra the Unusual Suspects and his quartet with pianist Paul Harrison, bassist Aidan O’Donnell and drummer Stu Ritchie continues his adventures in melodic, energetic jazz.

http://web.mac.com/phil.bancroft/iWeb/PhilBancroftSaxophone/philbancroft-saxophone.html

"An awesome saxophonist." Jez Nelson, Jazz On 3

This performance is promoted by Jazz at the Lemon Tree www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

Jazz Aberdeen Limited is a charity registered in Scotland, No. SC035566