Following their 'one-off tour' of Somerset in 2008, L'Esprit du Jazz has reformed to share their contemporary yet nostalgic style of jazz with new audiences. The band has two concerts planned for Somerset this autumn.

Following their ‘one-off tour’ of Somerset in 2008, L’Esprit du Jazz has reformed to share their contemporary yet nostalgic style of jazz with new audiences. The band has two concerts planned for Somerset this autumn. They will perform at The Fat Fowl as part of the Bradford on Avon Arts Festival on Thursday 23rd September at 7.45pm, when they will be joined on-stage by festival organiser Nick Sorenson, and at the Little Theatre, Wells on Saturday 9th October at 7.30pm.

L’Esprit du Jazz is accordionist Karen Street, saxophonist Andy Tweed, guitarist Andrew Barrett with Dave Griffiths on bass. Combine shades of Django Reinhardt, tango and swing, add a handful of beautiful original compositions by Karen Street and you get the coolest of cafe jazz, this is L’Esprit du Jazz.

“We got such a great reaction to the group on our Take Art tour in 2008 where we played to full houses that we knew we had created a band with a really appealing sound. We are all busy professional musicians in our own right and it took us a bit of time to get our act together, so to speak, but we hope our audiences feel it was worth the wait,” said Andy Tweed

“People don’t expect to hear the accordion in a jazz context but what might seem an untypical line up of instruments here is actually more common in France. We hope to give our audiences a flavour of Gallic charm,” Karen added.

Karen Street is an accordionist and composer whose wide ranging skills have found her playing with top jazz artists such as Tim Garland and Phil Robson, in the classical world with Pavarotti and Ute Lemper, as well as with pop stars Martha Wainwright and Elvis Costello. She is also a member of the Strictly Come Dancing live orchestra.

Well known on the British saxophone scene both as a player and a teacher, Andy Tweed’s interests range widely, from jazz to contemporary classical, and he regularly performs with Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Andrew Barrett is one of the West Country’s best known jazz guitarists. He has performed internationally; in Scandinavia, Portugal, France and New York. London venues he has appeared at include The Royal Academy of Arts, The Ritz and the 100 Club, the oldest live music venue in the capital.

A renowned bass player and jazz mandolin player, Dave Griffiths was originally influenced by blues, ragtime and jug band music. He has since added folk and Italian romantic music to his repertoire and ventured into the classical arena with the Beethoven Sonatas at Ashton Court Festival in 2002.

Tickets for the Bradford upon Avon Arts Festival concert are available from the Fat Fowl on 01225 863111 price �8.00. Tickets for the concert at Wells are available at �10 (�8 concessions) from www.bigshedmusic.co.uk/events or call 01749 673936.

As well as performing concerts at events around the South West and beyond, L’Esprit du Jazz are available to hire for private events.