Gareth Lockrane’s Grooveyard 23rd September 2016 The Verdict, Brighton Gareth Lockrane is in town tonight with a bag full of new tunes and a cohort of old friends to play them with. To set the scene, he opens with Put The Cat Out from the original Grooveyard album – a skittish, blues-y waltz […]
Kevin Flanagan Quartet Friday 17th June 2016 The Verdict, Brighton Beginning with Midnight Voyage, pianist Dave Gordon excelled with free-flowing solo lines reminiscent of the tune’s composer, Joey Calderazzo. Combining lesser-played jazz standards with his own original compositions, Kevin Flanagan’s original tune Newk was dedicated to Sonny Rollins and aptly illustrated his influence […]
Terry Pack’s Trees Ensemble (Bonsai Version) The Verdict, Brighton Saturday 31st October, 2015 The Bonsai version of Trees performed at The Verdict on Saturday 31st October in a fundraiser for the House That Zac Built charity. From Eddie Myer’s solo bass opening of Terry’s composition El Pueblo Unido until the final gospel like chords of […]
Geoff Simkins/Sheryl Bailey Quartet The Verdict, Brighton Saturday 24th October 2015 Both guitarist Sheryl Bailey and saxophonist Geoff Simkins are experienced jazz educators, Geoff teaching locally, whilst Sheryl Bailey teaches at Berklee and the Stanford Jazz Workshops. Fittingly then, this evening was a masterclass in musicianship with both musicians soloing fluidly over some […]
Gary Crosby’s Groundation The Verdict, Brighton Friday 30th October 2015 Beginning with a Shirley Tetteh original dedicated to mandolin player Joshua Pinkham and guitarist Frank Vignola, straight away the music was full of energetic, powerful drumming from young Moses Boyd, together with rhythmic interplay with Shirley Tetteh, accompanied by the strong, full sound […]
With three major new jazz festivals, a new purpose-built jazz club, top-class big bands, a thriving jazz school and a wealth of grassroots players and gigs, jazz has never been stronger or better represented in the Brighton area. Yet it can still be hard for new acts to break through to connect with audiences outside […]
Sam Eagles Quartet Friday 28th August The Verdict, Brighton With a selection of beautiful original compositions taken from Sam’s album Next Beginning (on the Fire label) the interval left the audience wanting more. The second half was the highlight of the evening as the band began to take off. Beginning with the […]
Dave Williams Swing Band The Verdict, Brighton Saturday 13th June, 2015 For a first outing this was an impressive display of tight arrangements and strong vocal performances presented in a way that was entertaining and enjoyable. Playing to a packed house at The Verdict, vocalist Dave Williams has successfully developed his Frank […]
Partikel with Benet McLean The Verdict, Brighton Friday 26th June, 2015 It’s rare to see a contemporary jazz group and be completely in awe of their talent from the very beginning but this was the case with Partikel who were joined by virtuoso violinist Benet McLean, who played with such amazing feeling […]
In March 2012, The Verdict in Brighton opened its doors to the public with a special opening weekend of concerts featuring the Simon Robinson Trio with a host of guests and two concerts by the Simon Spillett Quartet. The opening day featured performances from local musicians of different generations, such as bassist Adrian […]