Line-up:
Sam Norris – alto sax
Jay Verma – piano
Harry Pearce – upright bass
Harry Ling – drums
About
The Sam Norris Quartet [SNQ] is award-winning alto saxophonist Sam Norris’ primary creative project. The ensemble features New York-born bassist Will Sach*, pianist Jay Verma and drummer Harry Ling and uses Sam’s compositions and standard tunes as vehicles for exploratory improvisation. Formed in the mould of history’s great sax-led quartets, especially those of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman, the resultant music is high-energy, uncompromising and explores everything from tightly scripted forms to passages of free improvisation. Sam’s composition also draws heavily on twentieth-century classical music, such as that of Ravel, Ives and Scriabin, and visual art, notably the works of Kandinsky and Klee. The quartet recently played to a sold-out audience at the Saint Katherine’s Jazz Festival and regularly give performances throughout the UK- they plan to record their debut album this December.
*This performance features bassist Harry Pearce deputising for Will Sach.
‘An extraordinary technique and improvisational flair for one so young.‘
Ronan Guilfoyle [Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau]
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUDIENCE MEMBERS – PLEASE READ
Welcome to the Vortex. Although the government is relaxing its Covid restrictions on July 19th 2021 the Vortex will continue to operate measures to protect users of the premises.
Please note the following:
- We ask you not to attend gigs if you have or think you may have any Covid-19 symptoms. If you can’t make a gig because you have to self-isolate then just get in touch by filling out this form and we’ll give you a voucher for another gig.
- We will ask you on entry to sign in for NHS Test and Trace either using the NHS Covid app or manually
- There will be no standing at gigs. Everyone who books a ticket will be allocated a seat, but we cannot guarantee that you will have a table.
- Orders for drinks and snacks will be taken and paid for using the Butlr app which you can download on arrival. (If you do not have a smartphone then your order will be taken at the table and you can make a contactless payment. We do not accept cash.)
- We ask that everyone wears a mask when moving around inside the building.
- Automatic hand sanitiser stations are provided at various places within the building and we encourage regular use of hand sanitiser.
- Full details of the measures that we are taking to prevent transmission of Covid are set out in our risk assessment and management plan which can be found on our website.