Our annual Christmas Jazz fest this year will feature the music of prolific composer Leslie Bricusse who composed music for many musicals and collaborated with great singers and songwriters including Anthony Newley, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra on Bond films.
his music for Christmas classic musical and film Scrooge was reworked by US jazz supremo Kurt Elling.
Ray Butcher is a jazz trumpeter who has been influenced by many of the great trumpeters of the genre.
Ray has played for well known US/UK artists such as Dr John, Mica Paris, Robbie Williams, Beverly Knight, Scott Matthews and Delirious frontman Martin Smith.
He was the trumpet soloist on the Grammy nominated cd 'Burning Lights', on the track 'God's Great Dance Floor', by US Grammy winner Chris Tomlin. This album topped the US Billboard 200 charts and won the ‘Praise and Worship’ category in the 44th GMA Dove Awards. The follow on album 'Passion; Let the Future Begin' (also featuring Ray's solo), reached the US Billboard 200, number 4.
He appeared on outtakes from the Cookie Monster iphone ad, titled ‘Behind The Scenes’, on Paul Reeves’s composition ‘Croque Monsieur’, seen by 3.5M YouTube viewers.
Ray was invited to appear on Maltese TV show 'Ilsien in Nisa' playing his own music.He has been involved in jazz promotion, at the 'Blue Train Jazz Club' (Waterloo) and Birmingham's 'Yardbird Jazz Club'.
Pianist and singer Wendy Kirkland is "One of the Great Unsung Heroines of British Jazz" The Jazz Man.
£12.50 plus booking fee onlinr or £15.00 on door, £10 for under 18s
