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BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL 26th Edition July 16th - 25th 2010

THE JAZZ RAG

20th year of publication Bi-monthly, throughout the UK and beyond.

For booking information and availabilities please contact Tim or Dave at:

Big Bear Music, PO Box 944, Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 8UT, England
Tel: 0121 454 7020 Fax: 0121 454 9996 Email: agency@bigbearmusic.com

BRUCE ADAMS/ALAN BARNES QUINTET

Jazz is suddenly back in fashion, but did it ever really go away? Well actually no, and it won't, when there are such fabulous jazz attractions as:

The secret of the success of the Bruce Adams/Alan Barnes Quintet is simple - impeccable musicianship, creative excellence and an absolute understanding of the jazz tradition of which they are part. An outstanding partnership, Adams and Barnes are constant inspiration to each other and are complemented by a dream rhythm team of the country’s most sought-after musicians.

ROY FORBES

Roy is widely considered to be the hottest new male jazz vocalist on the scene. A dynamic and exciting singer, he is regularly one of the hits of the Birmingham International Jazz Festival. He first came to the public’s attention with the Andy Hamilton Band and has performed with such greats as Harry Edison, Benny Waters, Larry Coryell and David Murray.

‘ What makes Roy so great is that he’s a risk taker, in the same way that all jazz musicians take chances when they embark on an improvised solo.’ - Jonathan Abbott

ALAN BARNES

One of the most certain things about Alan Barnes is that, whenever you think you have got his abilities and achievements sorted, he manages to surprise you. His instrumental range is as impressive as his virtuosity: long established as a major force on alto sax and clarinet, he then began to astonish us with his baritone sax playing, as well as bringing out tenor and bass clarinet for more occasional delights. Then came the various suites and compositions such as the 2000 Birmingham International Jazz Festival feature, Swinging Down Broad Street. He has become accustomed to sweeping British Jazz Awards in some half-dozen different fields, his recorded output is prolific and he is constantly on the road.

VAL WISEMAN

A remarkable jazz singer, Val Wiseman continues to tour extensively with Lady Sings The Blues and Drummin' Man featuring in concerts, festivals, television and radio broadcasts throughout the UK and Europe as well as performing solo with her own band. Her main influences (Billie Holiday, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee) can be detected in her very individual style, certainly one of the best two or three jazz singers this country has produced.

DIGBY FAIRWEATHER

One of Britain's best jazz trumpeters and bandleaders. Born in Essex in 1946, Digby has had a career in jazz of remarkable versatility as well as major success. His musical career is notable for unexpected variety as well as achievement. His 1993 British Jazz Award for Services to Jazz was self-evidently well deserved. As an archivist, as a broadcaster and as a writer his achievements are notable. He is best known on the writing front for his Rough Guide To Jazz and this year has seen the publication of an honest and entertaining autobiography. Digby’s main service to jazz, though, is as a trumpeter of imagination, accomplishment and unbounded enthusiasm.

ALEX GARNETT

One of the most in-demand of UK session players, saxophonist Alex Garnett is perhaps best known on the jazz scene for his superb work with Ray Gelato’s Giants, but can equally well be found in settings that range from Jools Holland to Van Morrison. The list of international stars Alex has worked with covers the fields of the best of blues and popular music, with Paul Weller, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and Albert King a fair sample.

JONNY BOSTON

An accomplished and versatile reedman, Jonny has impressed fans in a variety of settings in the years since he graduated from Leeds College of Music. Co-leader of the Boston Tea Party, sometime Biscuit Boy, always a rewarding soloist in his own right.

ROY WILLIAMS

What jazz festival would be complete without the stylish and swinging contribution of Roy Williams, generally recognised as British jazz’s finest trombonist over the last couple of decades? Roy’s multiple British jazz awards, his extended stints in such great British bands as Alex Welsh and Humphrey Lyttelton, his almost inevitable involvement in all-star line-ups like Lady Sings The Blues and the Pizza Express All Stars - these are always cited, but it’s also worth remembering that Roy has an enviable reputation internationally. He played in New York with Bobby Rosengarden’s band and has toured with the bands of Peanuts Hucko and Bob Wilber - and, perhaps most appropriately, with the World’s Greatest Jazz Band.

BRUCE ADAMS

Bruce Adams is one of those jazzmen whose presence is a guarantee of exciting, highly personal performances in whatever setting he finds himself: whether as part of a hand-picked line-up for some special project or as a soloist galvanising band and audience alike. Bruce’s career, from Opportunity Knocks to British Jazz Awards via stage shows, work with jazz greats like Benny Carter and Dick Hyman and his productive professional association with Alan Barnes, has been well enough charted by now.

MIKE BURNEY

Mike Burney is one of the great undiscovered gems in British jazz. Always overlooked, almost certainly due to his insistence on staying in his native Birmingham, he is one of our greatest tenor saxophone players. Big toned, highly-accomplished, imaginative and very competitive, he has taken on and whipped many of the top international players of our times who were rash enough to lock horns with Mike Burney while visiting his city.

Big Bear Music, PO Box 944, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 8UT.