Peter King/mornington Lockett Featuring Gareth Williams (9:00pm); Julian Joseph (10:15pm); Dave O'higgins (11:30pm)

Saturdays are traditionally our “straight ahead” nights and this evening I have put together a classic line up featuring some of the finest musicians to perform here at the Club. First up is the world class pairing of saxophonists Peter King and Mornington Lockett, who appear at the Club regularly throughout the year. Peter is one of the finest saxophonists ever to come out of the UK, bar none. While still in his teens he played at the opening night of the original Ronnie Scott's Club in 1959 and he has been at the forefront of the international jazz scene ever since. Considered to be one of the finest alto saxophonists in the world, Peter has been performingver 25 years. As a young student I remember being completely in awe of him (as were so many others) and through his regular work here at the Club (plus eventually playing with him in the Julian Joseph Big Band, as described below) he has become a good and close friend. And making up the other half oat front line is a wonderful saxophonist who I first heard at the old Club in the mid 80's, Mornington Lockett. I remember very distinctly a fine pianist called Jonathan Gee telling me that there was this "amazing" saxophonist currently studying at the Guildhall and that I had to "check him out". Which didn't take too long as he was soon a regular at the 606 all night jam sessions, along with the likes of the Stacey twins (Paul & Jeremy), Laurence Cottle, and Jon (Gee). And impressive he certainly was, even back then. These days, after stints with the likes of the Ronnie Scott quintet, Stan Tracey, Sarah-Jane Morris and Martin Drew he is ranked as one of the great UK saxophonists and his more recent pairing with Peter (that I actually put together) is unquestionably one of the finest two-sax front lines in the jazz world & beyond. "Peter King...plays with...searing authority" The Guardian; "Lockett plays with tremendous fluency and drive" - The Evening Standard

Julian Joseph is a musician who has made a name for himself not only as a powerful and creative improviser but also as a superlative composer and arranger as well as a well loved and respected writer, broadcaster and educationalist. He is also, from time to time, my boss! Julian first rose to fame following his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston when, in the late 80's, he toured with the up-and-coming American saxophonist Branford Marsalis. On his return to the UK he was highly in demand. However, his talent was significantly greater than just being "the pianist in the band" and it wasn't long before his compositional skills were being put to good use. Julian not only leads his own small groups and big band he is also a prodigious and highly respected composer, writing original works for a wide range of formats, including symphony orchestra and chamber ensemble. In the space of just three years he premiered two critically-acclaimed operas, “Bridgetower” and “Shadowball” (2010) and in June 2012 a new dance suite, “The Brown Bomber”, debuted at Sadler's Wells as part of the Cultural Olympiad. And then there's the 20 piece Big Band featuring Julian's brilliant writing and arranging that he has been running since 1994. In the summer of 1995 the band rehearsed at the Club for a week and to cut a long story short, I was asked on the Friday night (having not actually done any of the rehearsals!) if I would like to play flute for the gig they had the next day. Being one for a challenge I said sure, only to turn up to find that the gig was not only at the Royal Albert Hall but was a live TV and radio broadcast as part of the BBC Proms season! Fortunately I managed to blag my way through it and I have been a member of this occasional (and quite remarkable) ensemble ever since. And I should say, Jules is a pretty good boss! Tonight he will be performing with his wonderful trio and I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the fine young musicians that Jules has been promoting and supporting over