THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

Tuesday 7 June / Dydd Mawrth 7 Mehefin

MIKE HALL QUARTET 

"Legends Of The Tenor Saxophone"

During the course of the evening Mike and the band will highlight the major players who have paved the way for jazz, from Coleman Hawkins, who established the tenor saxophone in jazz and recorded the definitive version of the tune Body and Soul, through to Michael Brecker who took the language of John Coltrane and extended it to become the ultimate saxophone player.

Along the way Mike will perform classic tunes like Chelsea Bridge (Ben Webster), Cheesecake (Dexter Gordon) and Sugar (Stanley Turrentine), paying tribute to the many players who have both influenced him and appealed to him over the years.

A popular player on the North West jazz scene and with North Wales Jazz audiences, MIKE HALL turned professional in 1993, beginning his musical career with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. This led to work with composer and pianist Michael Garrick with whom he toured Malaysia and made several recordings and broadcasts. More recently he has appeared at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club with the Echoes of Ellington Orchestra, performed a gala concert at the World Saxophone Congress in Slovenia, toured the UK with Andy Scott’s Sax Assault and continues to perform with his own quartet. 

Mike regularly freelances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Halle Orchestras, and now heads jazz studies at the Royal Northern College of Music where he teaches jazz improvisation, theory, history, and saxophone along with directing the RNCM Big Band and Jazz Collective.

He has also had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in jazz, including American musicians Bob Mintzer, Wayne Shorter, Bob Brookmeyer and Brian Blade, to name just a few.

The line-up for the Mike Hall Quartet at the Royal British Legion, Llay is completed by Richard Wetherall (keyboards), Ed Harrison (double bass) and Eryl Roberts (drums).