Andrea Vicari with Jazz Ex Tempore

Thursday 2nd February, Tickets £10, Doors 7pm, Show 8.30pm(2 sets, approx finish 11.00pm)

Our apologies, but we have now reached our dining capacity for the main room for this event. We have unallocated seating still available, for those who do not wish to dine, as well as standing room in the bar area. The Menu will be available for those who missed out on restaurant space.

Andrea Vicari with Jazz Ex Tempore

Pianist Vicari features as part of Jazz Ex Tempore, a pan-European quartet that combines each musician's cultural sounds and heritage for a highly successful, accessible night of musical fusion

Andrea Vicari - piano
Elvis Stanic - guitar/harmonica/accordion
Hristo Yotsov - drums
Rico de Jeer – bass

Jazz Ex Tempore began in 2005 as a cultural exchange project between Croatia and other European countries - a quest to make music that would draw on the cultural heritage of all of its band members. So far, the project’s contributing artists have come from 18 countries, producing musical fusion that is accessible while retaining depth.

Tonight’s incarnation of Jazz Ex Tempore began when Elvis Stanic, director of Croatia’s Liburnia Jazz Festival, invited Dutchman Rico de Jeer, Bulgaria’s Hristo Yotsov and our own Andrea Vicari over to Croatia to rehearse and perform together – a musical collaboration that soon became an adventure, as the group travelled to perform to each of their home audiences.

Their journey eventually led to the recording of their first CD – perfectly titled Round Trip, on which the use of accordion and acoustic guitar gives the music an earthy feel with some beautiful folk melodies. The group are currently performing the work here and in Europe as part of a Jazz Services-sponsored tour, and will also be featuring some music from Andrea’s latest album, Mango Tango.

Andrea Vicari

Accomplished as both a jazz pianist and composer, Andrea was born in Florida but raised in the far sunnier climes of our very own Birmingham. Having won a scholarship to study at The Guildhall in London, she soon found herself working with bass guitar legend Dill Katz in a band that also included (the then unknown) guitarist Phil Robson, before going on to form her first important group with Julian Argüelles on sax and Stuart Hall, then of Django Bates' Human Chain, on bass.

She also worked with Phil Bent, Jazz Warrior David-Jean Baptiste (with whom she recorded her first commercially released album, Freedom in the Groove), and the all-women band Birds, led by Kathy Stobart. In 1994 Andrea was commissioned by The Arts Council and the Peter Whittingham Trust to write music for a new 11 piece jazz orchestra; this became the Suburban Gorillas project, which resulted in an album of the same name, a Jazz Services tour, a triumphant appearance at Brecon Jazz Festival, and a live BBC broadcast from Newcastle Playhouse. Andrea has released four albums: Lunar Spell, Tryptych, the aforementioned Suburban Gorillas, and Mango Tango.

“Andrea Vicari’s playing is a constant delight - intense, probing, and generating a seemingly endless succession of ideas”  JazzUK

“a brilliant young British talent”  Humphrey Lyttleton, BBC R2

“one of the most brilliant young jazz musicians in the UK - an outstanding pianist and superbly fertile composer”  Penguin Rough Guide to Jazz

“a sharp post-bop piano improviser and prolific composer - breathtakingly eclectic.”  The Guardian

Elvis Stanic

Elvis Stanic, Jazz Ex Tempore’s art director, is a jazz graduate of Berklee and one of Croatia’s best known contemporary guitarists. Winner of several awards including two Croatian Musicians Union Annual Awards, he has performed at many of the major jazz festivals in Europe, including Montreaux, and alongside such musicians as Django Bates, and The National Croatian Radio-Television Big Band.

Rico de Jeer

Rico de Jeer graduated from the prestigious Hilversum’s Conservatory in 1992, and now plays with the Kai Von Rosenberg Trio, and Klatwerk 3.

Hristo Yotsov

Hristo Yotsov has performed throughout Europe with his own quartet, and the Theodosii Spassov Trio; he has worked with Tommy Smith, Andy Scofield, Reggie Workman, Eric Prost, and Bennie Maupin amongst others, and his awards include Jazz Musician of the Year at the 1999 Bulgaria National Music Awards. His quintet released an album, Seven Steps, last year.