The Pocket Ellington feat. Alan Barnes and Dave Green & Vimala Rowe Quartet

8 October at Crucible Theatre, in association with Music in the Round
7.15-10.00 pm, doors open 6.45 pm

Alan Barnes: baritone & alto sax, clarinet, Robert Fowler: tenor sax, Simon Finch: trumpet, David Lalljee: trombone, Alex Webb: piano/MD, Dave Green: bass, Alfonso Vitale: drums
Vimala Rowe: vocals, Charlie Flint: piano, Mikele Montolli: bass, Darren Beckett: drums

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Double bill featuring a classic Ellington sound followed by award-winning singer Vimala Rowe, a major talent on the British jazz scene.

The Pocket Ellington feat. Alan Barnes and Dave Green

Born out of a love of the music of the great Duke Ellington, The Pocket Ellington manages what ought to be impossible. But with Alan Barnes, Robert Fowler, Simon Finch and David Lalljee on hand, anything is possible. Veteran bassist Dave Green and powerhouse drummer Alfonso Vitale provide the swing. Great charts are presented in clever new arrangements which evoke the period but also offer solo space to these top-flight musicians. Their repertoire also includes pieces from artists and arrangers who were influenced by the Duke –Mingus, Monk and Gil Evans. It’s a big sound from a pocket band.

“A terrific band with a rhythm section as good as any on the planet” – Blue Light, magazine of the Duke Ellington Society UK

Alan Barnes’s unique musicianship, indefatigable touring and warm rapport with audiences have made him uniquely popular in British jazz. He has received over 25 British Jazz Awards and has twice been made BBC Jazz Musician of the Year. Alan has worked with legends such as Stan Tracy, John Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton, Freddie Hubbard and Scott Hamilton, made over thirty albums as leader and co-leader alone and his session work includes Bjork, Bryan Ferry and Michel LeGrande.

“His stylistic range is quite phenomenal… He has a wonderful capacity for suggesting a given style without actually imitating anyone” – Dave Gelly, Masters Of The Jazz Saxophone

“Barnes plays music that was radical 50 years ago but he infuses it with so much passion and energy you could believe it was minted on the spot, which is always part of the story with jazz” – John L. Walters, The Guardian

Dave Green, the bassist who grew up next door to Charlie Watts and toured with his quintet to USA, Brazil and Japan, is a British jazz legend who has worked with everyone from Humphrey Lyttelton, with whom he spent eighteen years, Scott Hamilton’s Quartet for over fifteen years and Stan Tracy. He is the only survivor of 1960’s British musicians who played with the great black pioneers of the music — Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins.
“No musician can have covered more of the British jazz scene than bassist Dave Green” – Dave Gelly, The Observer

Vimala Rowe Quartet

From her training in Hindustani classical music in India, to world music, soul and effortlessly swinging jazz, award winning singer Vimala Rowe has rapidly become recognised as a major talent on the British jazz scene. Sell out performances at Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express Jazz Club, 606 Club, London Jazz Festival and countrywide, she delights and enchants her audiences with her naturally passionate and emotive range of expression. Her phenomenal accolades include a highly successful duo with guitar legend John Etheridge, culminating in an acclaimed eclectic album of their own work and performing with flamenco legend Paco Pena at Sadler’s Wells.

“… a singer of quite astonishing versatility and adaptability…” – London Jazz News

In her early teens, Vimala Rowe left England for the Far East where she quickly established herself as a successful vocalist, writing and recording a hit album and performing extensively. Her interpretations of jazz standards incorporate her own unique voice while echoing the classic sound of the likes of Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. She has performed with such Jazz luminaries as the late Bobby Wellins, Toni Kofi, and Nathaniel Facey and her duet project with legendary guitarist John Etheridge was a top 10 critic’s choice in The Guardian and The Sunday Times. In 2018 she was a soloist performing Duke Ellington Sacred Music at Lincoln Cathedral with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Ellington Orchestra.

“… a singer of quite astonishing versatility and adaptability…” – London Jazz News

“One of the most distinctive singers to come along in some time” – The Sunday Times

Vimala’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Vimalalala

Video Links

Ticket Prices

Full – £20
Over 60, disabled, unemployed – £18
Student with NUS card – £10
15 – 17 year olds – £5
Under 15s – Free

We encourage you to book tickets online in advance, to avoid missing out and to make life easier and safer for our Door Team.  It will be possible to pay for entry at the door (preferably by contactless payment) if seats are available.

Advance tickets available from https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/sheffield-jazz-double-bill-the-pocket-ellington-vimala-row/dates