Award-winning, Matt Wates Sextet promises to enrapture and delight playing a repertoire of original to jazz standards from the American songbook with a timeless quality and a fresh and light touch at Quay Arts on Fri, 16 Apr in the Café Bar.

While the combination of two saxophones, trumpet and rhythm section is a fairly classic one in jazz and has appeared many times in the last fifty odd years. It creates a lot of possibilities for an arranger/composer such as Matt Wates who formed this band just over 12 years ago.

This sextet delivers jazz with plenty of pizzazz! Playing some Latin American style pieces strewn with funky numbers always with the heartbeat of swing!

The band consists of sensational trumpeter, Martin Shaw, tenor sax star Steve Kaldestad, with an awesome reputation amongst fans and critics alike! They are joined by recent graduate from the Guildhall School of Music, Leon Greening who has been making waves for himself as a pianist on the London scene - his influences range from Wynton Kelly to Bobby Timmons and Bill Evans.

Malcolm Creese, internationally admired double bassist and former member of Cleo Laine and John Dankworth's band has played with star musicians such as George Benson, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, George Shearing, Lee Konitz and Sting. The band’s drummer, Steve Brown is one of Britain's most popular. He has played with Mundell Lowe, Barry Harris, Junior Mance, Charles Macpherson and Scott Hamilton.

Matt Wates’ fluent and lyrical style of playing has been likened to Canonball Adderley (whose small groups of the late 1950s offer perhaps a stylistic blueprint for Matt's own group) and Paul Desmond. His compositions - which are the mainstay of the group's repertoire - are concise, can be tender or dramatic, and at all times flow with a natural swing and airy grace; his skilful and understated arrangements never swamp the composition.

The Matt Wales Sextet’s ethos is simple and pure: staying true to melody, swing, and the idea jazz should be fun to listen to as well as to perform.

Fri 16 Apr 8pm Bar & Menu from 6:30pm

Tickets £10 £9 Quay Arts Cafe