North Wales Jazz have an exciting addition to their weekly concerts in the Wrexham area on Tuesday, April 29 as they present one of Britain's most highly acclaimed jazz musicians, Art Themen.
For this concert the tenor and soprano sax great will be appearing at the Royal British Legion, Llay, near Wrexham, accompanied by a first-rate quartet featuring keyboards, guitar, double bass and drums.
A major figure on the British jazz scene since the early 1960s, Art Themen has continued to work at the highest level in both this country and on the international stage.
He became the mainstay of pianist and composer Stan Tracey's many bands for close to 20 years and being sought after to collaborate with renowned American jazz musicians such as George Coleman, Al Haig and Nat Adderly.
Born in Manchester in 1939, by the late 1950s Art was involved with the traditional jazz scene there.
Then, when studying medicine at Cambridge University he joined the award-winning Cambridge University Jazz Group.
He has since successfully pursued parallel careers both in music and as an orthopaedic surgeon, earning him the title “Doctor Jazz”, when he was the cover feature in the UK's Jazz Journal recently.
In the early 60s, much like the innovative Dick Heckstall-Smith with whom he worked, Art was a saxophonist whose creative output effortlessly strode blues and jazz genres alike, and fans of the early British blues scene will know him from his work with bands such as Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and The Cyril Davies All Stars.
From these, making his way to the vanguard of modern jazz, he went on to play and record with musicians such as pianist/composer, Michael Garrick, trumpeter Ian Carr and fellow tenor saxophonist, Don Rendell, to name a few.
Then, in 1975, he began his prolific collaboration with Stan Tracey, touring the world and producing numerous and varied recordings well into the 1990s.
As busy as ever, Art is a regular in the shortlists at the British Jazz Awards, winning in the tenor saxophone category in 2008, and continuing to work with stellar line-ups including projects with pianist/composers such as John Critchinson and New York's Frank Giasulo, and the celebrated Three Tenors band which Art co-leads with fellow tenor saxophonists, Mornington Lockett and Don Weller.
Joining Art Themen on April 29 will be Paul Sawtell (keyboards), Trefor Owen (guitar), Bill Coleman (double bass) and Luke Flowers (drums).
The performance commences at 8.30pm and admission is £10, concessions £8, school children and Students' Union members £5.
Further information is available from North Wales Jazz on 01745 812260 and at www.northwalesjazz.org.uk
