Jazz@John's party event

Fri 28 November 2014

St John's College

Party event with 4 Bands, a dance floor and a bar: get in early to avoid disappointment!

Part of the Cambridge Jazz Weekend.

The Andy Bowie Quartet has played for around the last 15 years nearly every Sunday night in Cambridge. At the moment they play at 8.30pm Sundays in The Tram Depot, opposite ARU. They are the classic saxophone and rhythm quartet: Andy Bowie (sax), Martin Hallmark (piano), Joel Humann (bass), Bert Schilperoort (drums) all have very extensive experience playing jazz in this country and Europe, playing straight ahead modern jazz.


'Fromage a Trois' is a jazz trio led by the ebullient David Ellingham whose jazzy, incendiary bellowing on the tenor and baritone saxes is well known in the area. Having in the past toured Europe (mostly with rock and blues bands), recorded for the BBC and played at Ronnie Scotts, he now chooses to surprise & amaze with his use of advanced techniques such as circular breathing and explorations of the altissimo end of the saxophone family.
Fromage a Trois has developed into a somewhat anarchic trio that now mines the less familar repertoire as well as original tunes. Tonight the trio features Fromage regulars, the phenomenal pianist Art Toper, alumnus of London music colleges and a music graduate of King's College, Cambridge, with rhythmic support from Akos Hosznos from Hungary, a virtuosic bassist who also teaches classical guitar!


Fitz Swing, Cambridge's oldest big band, is a traditional, 20-piece jazz group that specialises in the jazz and swing music of the mid 20th Century. Performing the best the era has to offer, including the repertoire of such artists as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman, this premier ensemble combines eclectic talent and rigorous preparation with raw energy and stylistic authenticity to bring to life the irresistible soundtrack of the Jazz Age.


Charles Mingus was an explosive bass player, bandleader and composer who played and quarreled with almost every famous jazz musician from New Orleans veteran Kid Ory via Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker to Eric Dolphy. His music is steeped in the blues, with traces of gospel, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and Stravinsky.
Minimingus, a six piece line-up of formidable local musicians fronted by three eccentric sax players, was created by Martin Kemp to play his music. After the ban's eruption on to the scene at Jazz@John's, gigs in London, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in Cambridge at Hot Numbers, and including a recent sell-out gig at the Cambridge Modern Jazz club, have followed. Expect great rhythm, gutsy riffs, exciting harmonies, bizarre juxtapositions and collective improvisation, along with occasional shouts, whistles and howls – and some lovely tunes.

Cost: 5£