WestSideJazz showcases mellow jazz and good vibes playing Swing, Blues, Ballads, and Latin numbers.  Formed out of Jazz Café sessions at Mehr Clef 2024, the band features Richard Cook on vocals, Marcus James on piano, and Jamie Royan on double bass. Richard Cook studied jazz vocals at Richmond Jazz School and was vocalist in Cuban ‘band Havana Good Time’ for 10 years before forming Brazilian group ‘Blame it on the Bossa Nova’ in 2019 which he continues to perform with this day.

Jamie Royan studied bass and drums at ICMP before joining the West London music scene playing double bass and bass guitar and in jazz, blues, rock, and classical settings. He currently plays bass in 59 de Ville, The Jazz Mondays and The Ealing Very Senior Hot Jazz Orchestra. Marcus James studied Jazz piano at Leeds College of music in the 1990s developing a lyrical style drawing on influences ranging from Keith Jarrett to Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. For this unique event, WestSideJazz are joined by some very special guests from The Jazz Mondays ‘little big band’:

Alex Ellerington initially studied percussion in Africa before playing drums with innumerable bands across a broad range of styles. These days he plays Latin jazz with Banda Bomba, and swing with The Jazz Mondays. Andrea Richardson is an experienced singer and actress from West London. The lead vocalist with Jazz Mondays, she has performed at many festivals, venues and events across the capital. Alto saxophonist Gavin Birnbaum’s musical journey began at Ealing Adult Education.

He enjoys playing dance music and currently plays in The Jazz Mondays big band and Squabble, a six-piece Hammond Organ funk/jazz outfit. Gilly Lodge plays baritone, sax, flute & clarinet and has been performing in the Diana Ross Story  in London’s West End as well as playing regularly with the Jazz Mondays. Tenor saxophonist Graham Bills studies at Richmond Jazz School (Julian Costello) and is a long-standing member of ‘little big band’ The Jazz Mondays, his playing influences ranging from Dexter Gordon, Bobby Wellins to Michael Brecker.

Richard, Jamie, and Marcus of WestSideJazz  perform regularly together and with other projects at West London venues including Café Yukari, The Bulls Head, The George IV, The Ram Jam, The Rose & Crown Ealing and The Tea Box among others and this one-off concert with its impressive array of special guests will include renditions of Fly Me to the Moon, Centrepiece, Lullaby of Birdland, Old Devil Moon among other exciting numbers on the night.

7.30pm (Doors 7.00pm) Tickets £15 (£13 for Chiswick Club Card holders) plus Eventbrite booking fee.