Alan Barnes and the Dean Stockdale Trio - The Old Black Cat Jazz Club

We are thrilled to announce that Alan Barnes and the Dean Stockdale Trio will be joining us at The Old Black Cat Jazz Club at Seventeen Nineteen.

Alan Barnes’s unique musicianship, indefatigable touring, and warm rapport with audiences have made him uniquely popular in British jazz. He has received over 30 British Jazz Awards, most recently in 2019 for alto sax, and has twice been made BBC Jazz Musician of the Year. In 2023 Alan appeared as a member of the Wynton Marsalis Sextet at the Buxton International Festival.

Alan Barnes is a prolific international performer, composer, arranger, bandleader and touring soloist. He is best known for his work on clarinet, alto and baritone sax, where he combines a formidable virtuosity with a musical expression and collaborative spirit that have few peers. His range and brilliance have made him a “first call” for studio and live work since his precocious arrival on the scene more than forty years ago.

His recorded catalogue is immense. He has made over thirty albums as leader and co-leader alone, and the list of his session and side-man work includes Bjork, Bryan Ferry, Michel LeGrande, Clare Teale, Westlife, Jools Holland and Jamie Cullum. He has toured and played residencies with such diverse and demanding figures as Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen and Conte Candoli.

In British jazz, the young Barnes was recognised – and hired – by the established greats of the time: Stan Tracey, John Dankworth, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, and Humphrey Lyttelton. But he is equally respected for his longstanding and fruitful collaborations with contemporaries such as David Newton, Bruce Adams, and Martin Taylor.

He written many compositions and arrangements including “The Sherlock Holmes Suite”, “A Jazz Christmas Carol”, ‘Jazz Portraits” and “Copperfield” as well as collaborations with Alan Plater : “Songs For Unsung Heroes”, ‘The seven Ages of Jazz” and “Looking For Buddy” Alan also runs a successful Jazz record label Woodville Records.

Barnes’ melodic sense bypasses the usual scale-running clichés that pepper the playing of lesser bop disciples.

Peter Marsh, BBC Music Review.

His stylistic range is quite phenomenal… He has a wonderful capacity for suggesting a given style without actually imitating anyone

Dave Gelly, Masters Of The Jazz Saxophone

I was relishing the prospect of Barnes’s casually consummate musicianship, deadpan humour (he could be a comedian, if jazz ever fails him), and indomitable belief in a respected place for the music’s rich history in this eclectic and often forgetful world.

John Fordham - The Guardian

Barnes plays music that was radical 50 years ago but he infuses it with so much passion and energy you could believe it was minted on the spot, which is always part of the story with jazz.

John L. Walters, The Guardian.

Here's a little more information about Dean Stockdale:

Dean Stockdale is a highly regarded jazz pianist, arranger and composer based in the North of England who is known for his sensitive, swinging style. He regularly appears around the UK with his trio and quartet and is often seen supporting some of the best jazz artists on the touring circuit. This list includes Dave O’ Higgins, Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams, Greg Abate, Martin Speake, Dave Newton, Martin Shaw and Alex Clarke.

His biggest influences are the piano trios of Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Gene Harris, Mulgrew Miller and Erroll Garner, and he has recently recorded and toured an album dedicated to Oscar Peterson, which was recognised as one of the top 10 albums of 2023 in Jazz Views.

His 2021 trio album ‘Promise The Moon’ was reviewed to wide acclaim and was featured on BBC Introducing, Jazz FM and BBC Radio 3. Dean continues to be in demand as a performer, accompanist for vocalists and as a teacher and session pianist. He continues to perform in some of the most prestigious venues around the UK, both in jazz and classical music and regularly writes and arranges new compositions for recording with his own ensembles.

Host or Publisher Seventeen Nineteen