Photo credit: Dave Stapleton
Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM – 2 set(s) of music
Line-up:
Denys Baptiste – Tenor saxophone
Sultan Stevenson – Piano
Larry Bartley – Double Bass
Joel Barford – Drums
About
During his career Denys has played/recorded with some of the biggest names in jazz and other genres including McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Ernest Ranglin, Bheki Mseleku, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Courtney Pine, Manu Dibango, Jason Yarde, Martin Taylor, Jerry Dammers, Jason Rebello, Jean Carne, Marlena Shaw, Juliet Roberts, Incognito, Jason Moran, Cymande, Chakka Khan, Arthur Verokai, The Jazz Warriors and Jazz Jamaica.
In 1999 his debut album Be Where You Are – earned him a Mercury Music Prize for An Album Of The Year and a MOBO award for Best Jazz Act.. 2003 saw the release of his third, and perhaps most ambitious, recording/touring project to date: ‘Let Freedom Ring’ an inspirational, suite combining contemporary jazz, gospel, blues, and Afro-Cuban music with extracts of the epic poem, Mental Fight by Booker Prize winning author, Ben Okri. ‘Let Freedom Ring’ commemorating the 40th anniversary of the historic ‘I Have A Dream’ oration by Dr Martin Luther King and earned nominations for Best Album and Best New Work in the BBC Jazz Awards, for Best Jazz Act in the MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards, and Best Album in the UK Parliamentary Jazz Awards. and Jazz FM nominations in two categories in 2018 for best album and live act.
Denys Baptiste presents his new quartet, exploring an exciting mix of new compositions, standards and revisiting a selection of his most memorable compositions from his award winning albums. This project features rising star Sultan Stevenson – a pianist of great depth and passion The mercurial Joel Barford on Drums. On the bass is Denys’ longtime collaborator Larry Bartley. Expect an evening of deep swing, infectious melodies and inventive solos.