GREAT JAZZ IN THE HEART OF EAST SUSSEX!

NEXT CONCERT
Friday 11th April 2025  at  7.30pm

Another one-off concert featuring some of the finest jazz musicians in Britain.

Musician bios below – another stunning line-up!

Enrico Tomasso
It is said that Enrico started playing the trumpet at age five after listening to Louis Armstrong play Basin Street Blues. His father, a well-known clarinettist in England, took him to meet many of the American jazz greats when they visited — including Benny Goodman, Roy Eldridge, Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, and Dizzy Gillespie. The most important meeting of all was with Louis Armstrong, for whom he played at age 7 during Louis’ last visits to England in 1968 and 1969. This led to friendship which lasted for the remainder of Louis’ life. His musical education was fostered by his father, who would transcribe great trumpeters’ solos, would take him to live gigs, and would provide excellent trumpet teachers for him. Enrico later went on to study at the Leeds College of Music, and then spent many years working in bands including twelve years with the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, then a long stint with Ray Gelato, and with visiting American players. Among those he has played with are Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Dankworth, and Tommy Whittle and the Piazza All Stars. His first recording as a sideman was in 1984, and today he is considered one of the top jazz trumpeters and has won best trumpet category in the British Jazz Awards on multiple occasions.

Robert Fowler
One of British jazz’s greatest tenor-saxophonists. Securely rooted in the classic traditions of Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Chu Berry and their peers. He began playing clarinet and tenor in Bristol, then embarked on a professional career in 1986 with the Pasadena Roof Orchestra before working with a wide variety of UK players from Keith Nichols and Enrico Tomasso to Jean Toussaint and Gary Crosby as well as touring for two years with rock singer Brian Ferry’s ‘As Time Goes By’ presentation. From the early 2000s he worked regularly with big bands including Syd Lawrence, trumpeter Paul Lacey’s ‘Back to Basie’, and the BBC Big Band as well as with small groups including Humphrey Lyttelton, The Great British Jazz Band, the Pizza Express All-Stars and (notably) Alan Barnes’ Octet with whom he features on Alan’s latest album: ‘The David Copperfield Suite’ alongside Karen Sharp, Mark Nightingale and the leader.

Cia Tomasso
Cia Tomasso combines a busy concert performance schedule with a burgeoning career as a freelance sound engineer. A graduate of the University of Liverpool, BA (Hons) Music and Technology, Cia performs across the spectrum singing swing era jazz numbers, gigging with jazz, funk and fusion bands and maintaining jazz/soul residencies on Merseyside. During her time as a student Cia managed the music society big band (the phrase ‘herding cats’ springs to mind!) and undertook a work placement as a live sound engineer in Porto, Portugal. Career highlights to date include headlining prestigious festivals (Pershore Jazz On a Summer’s Day and Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party) working alongside many world class musicians (Lorenzo Baldasso, David Boeddinghaus, Josh Duffee, Henry Lemaire, Michael McQuaid, Mauro Porro) singing numbers associated with the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday.

Mark Crooks
Much in demand as both leader and sideman, Mark works in a wide variety of musical settings including jazz, big band, classical, shows and recording sessions on clarinet and saxophone. Mark is a member of the award-winning Back to Basie Orchestra and the celebrated John Wilson Orchestra, with which he has played regularly at the BBC Proms. He has performed with artists ranging from Tony Bennett to Sir Simon Rattle, Lady Gaga to Dame Cleo Laine at venues from Ronnie Scott’s in London to the Lincoln Center in New York. He also features in Getz, A Musical Portrait with the Chris Ingham Quartet and in drummer Matt Skelton’s Manne – Date Quintet.

Colin Good
At the age of 11 Colin became choral scholar at Magdalen College School, Oxford. In the 1980s he studied composition and keyboards at Oxford University and, all the while, he was developing his jazz playing and arranging skills in the clubs of London. Over the next decade, Colin worked as player, composer and arranger, mixing TV and theatre work with his role as musical director of the 30’s-style orchestra Vile Bodies. Influenced by Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson, Colin once toured with The Inkspots. He was the pianist, arranger and musical director on Bryan Ferry’s ‘As Time Goes By’ album and the tour to promote that album. He was enlisted as pianist and musical director on the Roxy Music reunion tour 2001. Colin has gone on to work closely with Bryan Ferry in arranging and production for some of the ‘Frantic’ album and is also the pianist & musical director on the ‘Frantic’ 2002 tour. He also plays with, amongst others, the Echoes Of Ellington Jazz Orchestra and the Duncan Galloway Quintet.

 Jerome Davies
Information to come.

John Sutton
John played with the London Vintage Jazz Orchestra led by Dave Burman. He then joined the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, and also played with the Solid Senders which specialised in the Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman repertoire of the late 1930s. It was a great band with some great people in it. John has been the leader of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, but also does lots of other things as well, such as local jazz bands, Rico Tomasso’s small bands, the Louise Cookman Quartet, Blue Devils and a pianist called Colin Good. This led to doing a CD and a tour with Bryan Ferry in 2000, a biggish band with strings: a great front line with Alan Barnes, Robert Fowler, Enrico Tomasso, and Malcolm Earle Smith.