This concert is a rare and wonderful opportunity to see internationally renowned pianist, composer and jazz educator Darius Brubeck, son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Darius will be working with Exeter College Music Academy students to present a collection of South African Jazz inspired music. Featuring a set from The Darius Brubeck Quartet, a set from the Exeter College Big Band plus pieces combining the two ensembles. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear a one off collaboration! – world class musicians sharing their wealth of experience with our up and coming jazz musicians of the future.

The Darius Brubeck Quartet, with its unique three-dimensional programming of original compositions, Dave Brubeck hits and South African jazz is a real draw. Playing to consistently sold-out houses at regional festivals and clubs in Europe and the UK, including London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, their acoustic sound is melodic, spontaneous, rhythmic and audience-friendly. Reaction to the Darius Brubeck Quartet has been enthusiastic, whether in Riyadh or Romania. Duncan Heining in “Jazzwise” magazine described the group’s performance at the 2012 Scarborough Festival as his “gig of the year”.

Darius, Matt and Wesley have been in a group together since 2006 and their varied concerts have featured various top line sax players, mainly Dave O’Higgins, Mike Rossi, Paul Greenwood and most recently Brandon Allen.

Tenor saxophonist Dave O’Higgins, one of the UK’s leading players, has been regularly featured with Darius since they met in South Africa 20 years ago and he also plays in the band “Brubecks Play Brubeck”, which specializes in Dave Brubeck compositions. With the Darius Brubeck Quartet, O’Higgins blends his own post-bop centered style into Darius’ own music and repertoire. This year the Quartet has performed at the Edinburgh, Marlborough and Wigan Festivals and, with Dave on sax, it has begun recording a new CD. It’s previous recordings showcase the tenor saxophonist Mike Rossi, who is also a regular in the band and offers a different but equally exciting interpretation of accessible material.

Darius Brubeck – piano

During the 1970s, Brubeck led his own groups, played with Don Maclean and Larry Coryell and toured the world with his famous father and brothers as Two Generations of Brubeck and The New Brubeck Quartet (Dave, Darius, Chris and Dan Brubeck). He moved to South Africa in 1983, where he initiated the first degree-course in Jazz Studies offered by an African university.

Pianist and Composer, Brubeck was also the Director of the Centre for Jazz & Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa until 2006. He established an international reputation playing with South African musicians like Barney Rachabane, who toured the world with Paul Simon and made a number of recordings featuring South African classics. His own compositions “Tugela Rail” and “The Lion at the Bar” became very popular with jazz audiences. His composition “For Lydia” is a set piece in the Royal Schools exam syllabus. Brubeck now lives in London but spends a lot of the year travelling between the US, South Africa and Europe.

Matt Ridley – bass

Matt Ridley studied at Trinity College in London and won many performance prizes. He leads his own band and and plays in numerous bands including of course the Darius Brubeck Quartet. He has just released a recording with The Matt Ridley Trio and The MJQ Celebration project. Although young, he is much in demand on the UK scene as a first choice bassist. He is also experienced in many other styles of music and composes for his own band. With Darius, he has performed in Romania, Saudi Arabia, Germany and all over the United Kingdom.

Wesley Gibbens – drums

South African Wesley Gibbens is now based in London and was a foundation member of Darius’ quartet in the UK. Years ago he played in Durban, South Africa with Darius and also taught in one of the extremely successful outreach programmes at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where anyone could be taught to play and understand music He has toured in Europe with Zimbabwean singer, Netsayi and participates in many studio recording sessions and is a featured drummer with Rhythms of the City. He also works as a composer and performer for TV commercials and is featured on the “For Lydia and the Lion” and “Two and Four/To and Fro” CDs recorded by the Quartet.

Dave O’Higgins – sax

Born in Derby, Dave first came to national attention as a member of NYJO (National Youth Jazz Orchestra) and since then has toured all over the world and recorded 14 albums as leader. He began with John Dankworth and Cleo Laine and later Jim Mullen, Ray Charles, Martin Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Salif Keita, Jimmy Smith, Joe Locke, Kyle Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott’s All- Stars, Matthew Herbert and the BBC Big Band, to name a few. As well as being a virtuoso saxophonist, he is a composer, arranger, educator and studio engineer.

Tickets: £14.50 (£9.50)

www.barnfieldtheatre.org.uk
Box office: 01392 271808