Tickets: £20.00 Seat at a shared Table for 4 /£15.00 Seat - No Table

Doors: 7.30pm

Show: 8.00pm-10.00pm

The Hampstead Jazz Club presents the debut performance of 'The Gareth Williams Trio & their new release Short Stories' crossing and blending boundaries of jazz improvisation with a unique interpretation jazz.

This project came from a desire to encapsulate the many facets of music that I love. Improvisation is at the centre and jazz is the genre but I wanted to embody aspects that aren’t always to the fore in the jazz idiom. There are moments of explosive swing and bravado but also compositions that evoke melancholy and introspection. With Chris Laurence I can explore intuitive, reactive playing. Martin France is the ultimate inresponsiveness and creativity.

This is not avant-garde music (indeed there are some jazz standards and even a vocal track!) but neither is it slavishly adherent to any one tradition or movement. I hope that it is joyful, as well as thought-provoking.

One of the most intensely creative, dynamic and exciting performers on the UK scene, Gareth Williams has been receiving increasing critical and public acclaim since the 90's and winner of the piano category in the 2013 British Jazz Awards.

Described as “a jewel of a player... spinning out luminous introductions and codas” by (Jazziz Magazine USA) and “…a fantastic improviser” (John Fordham, The Guardian). An electrifying performer, he is the “embodiment of creative energy, a physical player… with a keyboard command that’s both impressive and well-directed” (Peter Vacher, Jazzwise).

He came to prominence as pianist for singer Claire Martin and as the keyboard player/MD for jazz hip-hop band Us3. He has worked with many international jazz greats, including Art Farmer, George Coleman, Bud Shank, James Moody, Dave Liebman and Jerry Bergonzi, plus top British musicians such as Jim Mullen, Martin Taylor, Tommy Smith, Gwyneth Herbert and Iain Ballamy. For the last 15 years, he has toured the world with the late Pee Wee Ellis.

His albums, 'THREE' (live at Ronnie Scott’s in 2001) and 'Shock!' (Linn Records, 2009), were hugely successful. His latest album, 'Short Stories' is out now on Miles Music.

Born in London, Chris Laurence was active in the classical world as principal double bass with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields orchestra until 1995, playing on many of their recordings. He has also recorded music for television and film as well as jazz and classical music. Laurence has also featured on albums with many stars including Elton John, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell and many more.

Martin France arrived on the London scene in 1983. He has performed with many orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta and has made a host of jazz recordings for ECM. He has worked with many of the jazz greats and is also a regular with the NDR Big Band in Hamburg.

These three combined in the making of 'Short Stories', recently released to much critical acclaim. Expect some jazz standards and vocalising in the mix as well.

“Williams is a hugely gifted pianist, with an apparently endless fund of ideas” - Dave Gelly, The Observer

“A prodigiously talented pianist… a joyous, uncompromising celebration of sophistication, musicality, muscularity…” -Mojo Magazine

LINE-UP:

Piano/vox - Gareth Williams

Drums – Martin France

Bass – Chris Laurence

Please note, The Club is not licensed to allow access to Children under the age of 16 after 9pm, so for evening performances, please do not book tickets for children under the age of 16. Children aged 16 and above are welcome at any time.

For £20.00 Tickets:

Seats are not numbered and you will be seated at available tables. Please note tables seat 4 people, so for bookings of less than 4 people, you will be seated and share a table for 4.

For £15.00 Tickets:

This is a fully seated event. Seats are not numbered and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

Please NOTE, there is NO food served in the Jazz Club, there is a bar for drinks. We advise booking a table for dinner at the Duke of Hamilton upstairs at least 1hr before show-time - Book Here

Please note the Jazz Club is situated in the basement of the Duke of Hamilton Pub and access is via a number of stairs. The nearest toilets are situated on the 1^st floor of the Pub.