Pete Wareham & Alex Hitchcock
The saxophone is one of the instruments most indelibly associated with jazz music and tonight we feature an inspired pairing of two of the UK’s finest saxophonists, Pete Wareham and Alex Hitchcock. Pete Wareham is recognized as one of the most influential and imaginative players the UK has ever produced. The bands Acoustic Ladyland (which he founded) and Seb Rochford’s Polar Bear of which he was also a member had an explosive impact with their genre-defying, crossover styles, becoming widely popular amongst both jazz and mainstream audiences and critics. His latest project, Melt Yourself Down also featuring Sons of Kemet saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is equally formidable, with a sound described by Wareham as “Nubian-inspired party-punk music”. In addition, Pete is currently recording and touring with Mercury Prize-nominated artist Nadine Shah. A recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Alex Hitchcock's fluent, melodic and creative style has already made a significant impression amongst those in the know. His own quintet released their debut EP in May of this year, followed by a 15-date national tour and performances at at Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express, Love Supreme Festival, the Barbican and Royal Albert Halls, as well as touring to Spain, Italy, Hungary and Poland and features on BBC Radio 3 and Jazz FM. In addition, Alex is a member of the award-winning contemporary big band Patchwork Jazz Orchestra and has performed with, amongst others, Soweto Kinch, Chris Cheek, Stan Sulzmann, Dennis Rollins and the BBC Big Band. Bassist Tom Herbert (Polar Bear) and drummer Shane Forbes (Empirical) complete this must-see quartet. The repertoire will be mostly standards in a “straight-ahead” style and this is the first time Pete and Alex have played together, so it is sure to be an exhilarating evening of top-flight musicianship crafted with taste and aplomb.
“Wareham shows time and time again why he is such a respected presence on the UK jazz scene” LondonJazz News; “Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear have been responsible for opening the floodgates for a new wave of bands to fearlessly push the boundaries of jazz” Jazzwise; "Alex Hitchcock…a fantastic talent" JazzFM; “Hitchcock blows contemporary post-Coltrane tenor soaring up into the outer limits” Bebop Spoken Here