Adrian Cox Quintet ft. Dan Higham: “Remembering the Great Sidemen of Louis Armstrong, Edmond Hall & Trummy Young”
Adrian Cox first started playing clarinet at the age of 6 and by 15 years of age was gigging professionally, not just playing jazz but also blues, funk & ska with artists such as Paloma Faith, Maceo Parker and ska legends Bad Manners. But his love of jazz led him to Kansas Smitty’s, the UK mainstream jazz outfit led by American saxophonist Giacomo Smith. The group’s popularity was such that they were dubbed “London’s New Swing Princes” by the Evening Standard, and were invited to perform with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in both London and New York. Meanwhile, Adrian’s own project ‘Profoundly Blue’, about the life and music of his favourite clarinet player Edmond Hall was also a resounding success, touring the UK three times, releasing two albums and generating coverage on BBC 6 and Radio 2.
Over a truly incredible career, Edmond Hall worked with Louis Armstrong among many other jazz legends. Along with trombonist Trummy Young, they were certainly one of, if not the most exciting frontline from the late 1950’s. The show tonight salutes these two giants of Armstrong’s All Stars, and will feature the formidable young trombonist Dan Higham, already considered one of the finest musicians of his generation. The concert delves into Hall & Youngs individual musical history, as well of course those favourites “Good Old Good Ones” from the All Star era.
Adrian and Dan’s love for these two musicians is infectious from the start plus the beautiful musicianship between the two of them makes for a very special evening – not to be missed!
“Adrian Cox…touches the ‘other world’ that all musicians aspire to” Cerys Matthews BBC 6 Music; “[Cox] London’s most charismatic reeds man” Time Out; “[Higham] a terrific player and definitely one to watch out for” Jazz Views