TIME: 8.30 – 11.00PM
TICKETS: £8 ON THE DOOR

Personnel

Damon Brown – trumpet
Benn Clatworthy – sax
Leon Greening – piano
Adam King – bass
Matt Skelton – drums

Damon Brown’s Quartet is joined on this gig by LA based saxophonist Benn Clatworthy a regular at the East Side

Damon Brown is one of the UK’s leading jazz trumpet players and composers. Born in Manchester (UK) he studied the trumpet at the Leeds College of Music and London’s Guildhall School of Music. In the 90’s Damon played and toured with many pop and dance stars including: Paul Weller, Maxi Priest, The Specials, and The Pasadenas. With the London Acid Jazz Group, Push and the DJ Gilles Peterson he made the first of many visits to Japan.

A trumpet player and composer whose “Killer Shrimp” group won a Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Jazz Ensemble in 2007 (not to mention a nomination for Best CD), Damon Brown has spent years living abroad, exploring his craft. The journey has yielded more than musical inspiration, with many international collaborations ensuing, such as the regular quintet that he co-leads with New York sax virtuoso Steve Grossman.

His warm, fluent style with a fine rhythmic sense has been likened to an amalgam of Blue Mitchell, Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan, and has won him sideman roles with the such artists as Benny Golson, Dave Liebman, Doug Raney and many more.

“Britain’s finest straight-ahead trumpeter” Jack Massarik

“Brown has a bright, gleaming tone, a superbly poised attack, and a fine rhythmic sense that paces high long notes, stuttery phrases, pauses and sudden foot-on-the-gas accelerations against each other in eloquent conjunction.” John Fordham

Benn Clatworthy

Born in Hastings, England in1955, Benn Clatworthy grew up in London. Active in the London music scene during the 1970’s, he moved to Los Angeles in 1980 where he studied saxophone, flute, and clarinet with Phil Sobel. A fixture in Los Angeles area clubs since the 1980’s, Benn was originally heavily influenced by late 1950’s John Coltrane, but would soften his tone and sometimes sound a little like Warne Marsh with touches of Sonny Rollins. In the late 80’s he was recommended for Horace Silver’s band; Horace in turn recommended Benn to Discovery Records resulting in his first CD release as a leader “Thanks Horace”. Clatworthy has performed with: Jimmy Cleveland, The Los AngelesPhilharmonic Orchestra, Billy Higgins, Otmaro Ruiz, Cab Calloway, Donald “Duck” Bailey, The Temptations, Alex Acuna, Larry Gales, Cedar Walton, Bobby Shew, Roy McCurdy, The Platters, Ernie Andrews, Francisco Aguabella, Tony Inzalaco, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Pete Christlieb, Jimmy Branly, Cecilia Coleman, The Coasters, The Mills Brothers, Ray Armando, Cyndi Lauper, Henry “The Skipper” Franklin, Lawrence Marable, John Heard, Martin Drew, Art Hillary, Donald Dean, Johnny Hammond Smith, Frank Strazzeri, John Beasley, Kei Agagi, Joey Sellers, Horace Silver, and many others. CO

“Benn Clatworthy plays jazz with passion, soul and authority. All steeped in tradition and roots. I always look forward to seeing him on gigs.”  – Grammy Nominated Pianist John Beasley , Composer and Arranger