Alan Barnes – Alto Sax and Clarinet Bruce Adams – Trumpet and Flugelhorn Mark Nightingale – Trombone Robert Fowler – Tenor Sax and Clarinet Karen Sharp – Baritone Sax and Clarinet David Newton – Piano Simon Thorpe – Bass Clark Tracey – Drums The Octet is here again, so it must be Christmas and it must be Alan Barnes! We always look forward to this occasion with his and the band’s fine musicianship along with Alan’s own inimitable sense of humour. This hugely versatile line-up presents a set of jazz classics from Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong, through Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Gerry Mulligan to Coltrane and beyond, as well as some of Alan’s swinging and accessible compositions. As it is Christmas they will also include some festive fare. Everyone in the band is a superb soloist and Alan has written a whole bunch of new charts to let them loose on! The show will, of course, include a lot of anecdotes about the great (and not so great) figures of the music through the years.