James Allsopp – sax
Colin Oxley – guitar
Oli Hayhurst – double bass
Dave Storey – drums.
This is a new project inspired by the music James grew up listening to; a salute to one of his all time saxophone heroes – Stan Getz.
There is so much fantastic repertoire associated with Stan Getz from lush ballads and bossa novas to swinging standards and bebop compositions.
They have chosen a varied program reflecting this range of material and have interpreted the music respectfully but not reverentially, allowing it to breathe and feel natural for our time.
In a 20 year career James Allsopp has been a featured performer and recording artist for an incredibly diverse range of musicians. James has played in concert and on albums by legendary artists such as The Last Poets, David Axelrod, Dr John and Mulatu Astake, for European jazz luminaries such as Django Bates, Nostalgia 77, Kit Downes and Polar Bear, on more commercial albums by Jamie Cullum and Jorja Smith and as featured soloist in a wide range of compositions by composer Brian Irvine. James’s debut album was nominated for BBC Jazz Award for Best Album 2007 and he won the BBC Jazz Award for Innovation 2008.
‘perhaps the most gifted British saxophonist of his generation’… Underscore music magazine.
Colin Oxley studied at the Guildhall School, graduating in 1990. In that same year he won ‘Best Soloist’ in the National Big Band Competition and has gone on to pursue a highly successful musical career. As a long standing member of Stacey Kent’s group he recorded several albums as well as touring extensively, including appearances at the Montreux and North Sea jazz festivals and residencies in New York and San Francisco.
He is currently a member of Steve Fishwick’s Quartet, the Dave Newton Quartet, Mark Crooks’ Quintet, the Back to Basie Orchestra, John Wilson’s Orchestra, Steve Kaldestad’s Quartet, Simon Thorpe’s Swing Band and Eriko Ishihara’s Quintet. Colin has also performed with American legends Scott Hamilton, Harry Allen, Hod O’Brien, John Bunch, Houston Person, Warren Vache, Jeff Hamilton and Bob Dorough, as well as many of Britain’s top players. Among numerous recording credits, Colin has recorded two successful piano trio albums with the late Colin Purbrook and (in San Francisco) with Dave Newton.
In recent years he has toured widely in Japan and produced several albums for Japanese record labels. In the year 2000, Colin was voted Jazz Musician of the Year by the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
In between touring and recording, Colin is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.