Alan Barnes and Bruce Adams headline Flintshire Artsfest at Clwyd Theatr Cymru

Mar 17 2011 Chester Chronicle

For the 10th year running, this month’s Flintshire Artsfest is to include one of its hugely popular jazz evenings, organised in association with the North Wales Jazz Society.

The 2011 event, which takes place at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Tuesday, is headlined by blistering be-bop trumpeter Bruce Adams and brilliant multi-instrumentalist Alan Barnes.

Since the early 1990s they have co-led the renowned Bruce Adams/ Alan Barnes Quintet, recording the acclaimed CDs Sidestepping, Let’s Face the Music and their latest release, Spontaneous Combustion.

Alan Barnes, a five-time winner of both the alto sax and clarinet sections at the British Jazz Awards, has won the event’s baritone sax section three times.

He has a string of recordings as leader, with pianists Brian Lemon on the Zephyr label and Dave Newton on Concord Jazz, and with Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, Stan Tracey, the Tina May Trio and Spike Robinson’s Tenor Madness.

Barnes has played with the Humphrey Lyttelton Band, the BBC Big Band, the BBC Radio Orchestra and Clark Tracey’s Tribute to Art Blakey, and from 1987-1997 led the Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet, which featured Gerard Presencer and Dave O’Higgins.

In 2001 and in 2006 he was voted BBC Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year and featured on the Don Weller Band’s Cannonball, which was awarded Album of the Year at the British Jazz Awards.

He has recorded with Selina Jones, Björk, Van Morrison and Bryan Ferry. In recent years he has toured America, South Africa and Europe and has performed in the Charlie Watts Tentet at the Blue Note Clubs in New York and Tokyo.

Bruce Adams is a unique exponent of the trumpet, with a style of his own.

Adams, who won Best Trumpet in the British Jazz Awards in 2000, 2006 and 2008, is a regular guest star, playing with many well known bands, including Kenny Baker’s Dozen, Peter York’s Tribute to Gene Krupa, Echoes of Ellington, the Scottish Radio Orchestra and the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

He also played one of the last concerts of the great Ted Heath Orchestra.

Adams is a frequent performer at UK festivals and has toured 12 European countries plus Japan and the USA.

He has worked with many of the great names in jazz, such as Benny Carter, Al Cohn, Buddy Tate, Al Grey and Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, and has accompanied stars including the late, great Norman Wisdom, Freddie Starr, Russ Abbott, Bob Hope and Lionel Richie.

For their Mold appearance, Barnes and Adams will be joined by Welsh jazz guitarist Trefor Owen and the top-notch double bass-led Bill Coleman Trio, featuring Paul Sawtell (piano) and Dave Hassell (drums).

The concert starts at 8pm and tickets, priced at £12, concessions £10 and schoolchildren £5, are available by calling 01352 755114 or at www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk.