The current season of weekly jazz concerts at the Royal British Legion, Llay, near Wrexham, finishes on Tuesday, July 1 when North Wales Jazz presents the vocals-led Sue Parish Quartet, with special guest Dean Masser on tenor saxophone.
Sue Parish performs the great songs of the 30s, 40s and 50s, epitomised by composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Antonio Carlos Jobim, featuring bright and breezy swing, heartfelt ballads, sultry Latin and all points in between, and taking her cue from favourite vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Peggy Lee and Blossom Dearie.
Sue, a regular at many renowned venues and festivals including Kendal Jazz Club and Keswick and Lancaster Jazz Festivals, has won fans of all ages with her three octave vocal range and her ability to perform in every style from the subtlest of whispers, via a high wire scat vocal through to a full throated blues roar, as she explores the Great American Songbook.
Sharing the stage with Sue, on tenor saxophone, will be special guest Dean Masser, a commanding player who, like the title of his first album as a leader suggests, is very much Old School.
Continuing the legacy of the music he was exposed to from an early age, Dean is influenced by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and the sounds of players like Ben Webster, Lester Young and Eddie Lockjaw Davis.
When he started to play saxophone in his teens he was drawn to the big-toned, hard swinging styles of Dexter Gordon, and later Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane,
Johnny Griffin and Stanley Turrentine which can be heard in his own playing today.
Completing the line-up are first-rate musicians Andrzej Baranek (keyboards), Frank Grime (bass) and Eryl Roberts (drums).
The music starts at 8.30pm and admission is £6.50, concessions £5.50, school children £3.
Further information is available from North Wales Jazz on 01745 812260 and at www.northwalesjazz.org.uk.
