Alex Hitchcock Quintet featuring Laura Jurd

Album Launch

Event Has Passed

Last Show: Wednesday 3 rd July 2019

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Saxophonist Alex Hitchcock (‘a fantastic talent’ – Helen Mayhew, JazzFM) leads a powerhouse quintet that combines a compelling, adventurous ear for melody with virtuosic improvising. Their summer 2019 tour launches their first album All Good Things, released on the Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent, renowned for introducing debuts by artists including Robert Glasper, Brad Mehldau and Avishai Cohen.

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''If I suggest that it reminded me of Miles Davis’s classic quintet with Wayne Shorter, that will give you some idea of the impact it had on me. It’s tightly disciplined, in the best sense of the word, with the front-line of Hitchcock and Copus playing as one, but with a sense of space that allows soloists to explore the themes in any direction they choose'’ – thejazzmann.com

"A fantastic young talent... undoubtedly one of the stars of the future" – Helen Mayhew (JazzFM)

In a breakthrough year in 2018, a 15-date nationwide tour of their acclaimed live EP was followed by performances at Ronnie Scott's, Love Supreme Festival, and the Umbria Jazz Festival, as well as radio play on BBC Radio 3 and JazzFM. Critic John Fordham called the EP ‘an impressive calling card for a band with a bright future’.

The quintet features five of the most creative rising stars of the UK's jazz scene, who have already made their mark as sidemen with an impressive list of jazz luminaries ranging from Jasper Høiby through Chris Potter to Elliot Galvin. Influences range from the explosive energy of Kneebody and the complexity and nuance of Ambrose Akinmusire to European trailblazers Phronesis and Django Bates.

'‘Sax virtuoso... one to watch'’ 
Jazzwise

''Hitchcock blows contemporary post-Coltrane tenor soaring up into the outer limits’' 
Bebop Spoken Here

''...effectively mixed a traditional tenor-ballad warmth with a brisk contemporary attack''
John Fordham (The Guardian)

 

Band Lineup

Alex Hitchcock (tenor saxophone)

Laura Jurd (trumpet/flugelhorn)

Will Barry (piano)

Joe Downard (bass)

Jay Davis (drums)