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£5 Door Entry
Sax player Karen Sharp, brings together a top line-up of Nikki Iles on piano and Dave Green on bass.
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Both Karen and Nikki will be leading a 'Demystifying Jazz' WORKSHOP at Millers Music earlier that day from 11am - 1pm.
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Karen Sharp has long been a busy freelance musician working alongside many top class British and American musicians such as Scott Hamilton, Sir John Dankworth, Danny Moss, Alan Barnes, Barbara Lea, Dick Sudhalter, Joe Temperley, Mark Nightingale, Annie Whitehead, Ellyn Rucker, Roy Williams, Tina May, Nikki Iles, Scott Robinson, Ken Peplowski and the great blues singer Elkie Brooks.
Karen has recently released her third album for "33 Records" entitled "Wait And See". Karen has been busy playing in the UK and Europe. She is writing new material for her band, as well as collaborating with pianist Nikki Iles and planning her next album.
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"....an extraordinary talent." Phil Collins, BBC Radio 2
"Karen Sharp is a most impressive young talent, effortless swinging tenor playing- a must for any size gig. Can't wait for her return." Peter Bronson. Bournemouth Modern Jazz Club
"....Also making her debut, delivering a big, mature sound from her tenor sax, was the fantastic, diminutive Karen Sharp." Robin Paterson, Peterborough Jazz Club
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Bedfordshire-born Nikki Iles has progressed into the front rank of British jazz musicians. She began her career in the north of England as a founder member of The Creative Jazz Orchestra and composition continues to be a major part of her musical life. Playing highlights in the last couple of years have included The Julian Arguelles Octet, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Karen Sharp and Tina May.
A committed jazz educator, she is senior lecturer at Middlesex University, visiting professor at the Guildhall school and the Royal Academy in London, and Jazz Advisor to the ABRSM. She was nominated for the JAZZ EDUCATION AWARD at the 2007 and 2009 PARLIAMENTARY JAZZ AWARDS.
"Iles is one of the most refreshing and promising figures to have emerged in the UK in recent times,with a liquid sound and supple,obliquely resolved phrasing as an improviser...... "
The Guardian
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"..And Iles is a skillful improviser,although this is often eclipsed by her own bigger scale composition.But at London's Vortex on the opening show of a 14 date tour,Iles displayed the rhythmic suprises,shape shifting phrases,playful dialogue with partners and a mix of ruggedness and reflection that at times make her comparable with the great John Taylor. "
The Guardian
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"An intriguingly varied and very original programme and one which marked Iles as an arranger of considerable talent and as a gifted composer."
The Times-review from the Purcell Room
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The veteran member of the group, Londoner Dave Green started on tea-chest bass in local skiffle groups before buying his first double bass at 15. Surprisingly for a bass player of such skill and prestige, Green is self-taught. His first important engagement as a professional musician was with the Don Rendell - Ian Carr band, which he joined in the early 60s. By the end of the decade he had established himself as a major figure, having worked with musicians as diverse as Stan Tracey and Humphrey Lyttelton. He also played and recorded with many front-rank visiting Americans who counted themselves fortunate in having his solidity and flair behind them. A superb timekeeper and exceptional soloist, Green is the essence of the international jazz musician.
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