Tonight:
10°c
Secret loans totalling £61.6 billion to struggling banks Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS revealed for the first time
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Jack Massarik's rating
Reader rating
Description: The US pianist and composer Kellaway with the trumpet professor and double bassist.
Phone: 0207439 0747
Website: www.ronniescotts.co.uk
Email: ronniescotts@ronniescotts.co.uk
Trains: Tube: Leicester Square 
Extra info: Pub, Party Hire, Air Conditioning
High quality: Guy Barker is a versatile trumpeter
Say what you like about Ronnie Scott's, and occasionally somebody should, nothing currently touches it for cultural diversity. Patrons were jolted from Jeff Beck to Mozart yesterday, quite a switch.
Whereas Beck was of no interest to jazz lovers, Guy Barker's project most definitely was. The objective, as he explained, was not "to jazz up the classics, which is terrible" but simply to justify an attractive invitation to the Mostly Mozart Festival in sunny San Diego.
How? Well, this versatile trumpeter is noted as a talented arranger whose play-on links add wit to the annual BBC jazz awards. Given a good story his scores could have real meaning, so he asked crime novelist Robert Ryan to update the libretto of The Magic Flute.
Ryan set it in New York gangland, recognising Mozart's opera as "a simple quest by a guy who falls in love with a girl's picture and vows to find her". The result, slickly narrated by US actor Michael Brandon, is a feast of film-noir big-band dramatics.
Having fun touring with this Amadeus album is a 13-man lineup packed with ace soloists. Fiery Aussie tenorist Graeme Blevins and world-class Italian altoist Rosario Giuliani both sparkled. So did trombonists Barnaby Dickinson and Alistair White, keyboarder Jim Watson and drummer Ralph Salmins.
Yet the best moments came from the ensembles, especially jazz-funk passages anchored by the gravelly bass-clarinet of Swedish reedman Per "Texas" Johannsen. High jinks, yet high in quality.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
[ 1 ] [ 2 ]
