A very special gig, tonight Alan Skidmore is joined by the Steve Melling Trio
Alan Skidmore, sax / Steve Melling, piano / Alec Dankworth, bass / Miles Levin, drums
“A player with immense physical and imaginative stamina, at home in any context, from tight structures to total abstraction, and with any tempo, from breakneck to slow.” Ian Carr, Jazz The Rough Guide
Skidmore began his professional career at 16 and early in his career toured with comedian Tony Hancock. In the mid to late 1960s he worked with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Ronnie Scott’s group. In the 1970s, he was part of Keith Tippett’s jazz fusion bigband project Centipede and worked – among others – with Soft Machine, The Nice, Graham Collier, Brotherhood of Breath, Mike Gibbs, Elton Dean, Kate Bush and Curved Air.
One of the late great Stan Tracey’s favourite pianists, Steve Melling has worked for many years with Alan Skidmore and can be heard on his quartet album East To West and on three recordings of a band which combined a jazz quintet and African percussionists and came to be known as Ubizo. An amazingly dextrous and swinging pianist who alto star Pete King said was ’the only UK guy who can really do the modal stuff!’ Steve has played with many American jazz musicians including concerts with Jazz Machine, a band led by the legendary drummer Elvin Jones.
Alec Dankworth is an award-winning jazz bassist and composer who, in addition to leading several groups of his own, has worked with an amazing list of artists including Van Morrison, Stephanne Grappelli, Abdullah Ibrahim, and The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He is known for his energetic stage presence, versatility of style and some of the most imaginative bass solos around!
Drummer Miles Levin has worked recently with Steve Troman, Edgar Macias, Paul Dunmall and Soweto Kinch at major festivals and in the studio.
