Jazz: Jonny Bruce Organ Quartet

A welcome return for this superb band who smashed it out of the park with a sell-out show on their last visit back in 2022.

Jonny Bruce is a superb trumpeter, based in Bristol but with a national reputation. He is fluent in the whole history of jazz trumpet as he demonstrated some years back in his Trumpet Kings project, in which he covered pieces from Louis Armstrong through to Freddie Hubbard. You may have seen him playing around Bristol with bands such as Brass Junkies, Moscow Drug Club and the Dockside Latin Orchestra. He also played lead trumpet in a Harry James style with the Bruce/Illett Big Band, which headlined the Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival for several years running. Jonny was also featured prominently in the soundtrack to recent BBC drama The Outlaws, which was filmed around Bristol.

For this new Hammond organ-based line-up Jonny has put together a more hard-bop and Blue Note style set, including tunes from Horace Silver, Roy Hargrove and Stan Getz.

Joining Jonny in the front-line is tenor saxophonist Greg Sterland, who has played at the club several times before both as a band leader and as part of the Electric Miles tributes we put on as Christmas Specials. He cites a wide range of influences including Lester Young, Lars Gullin, Warne Marsh and Joe Lovano.

Playing Hammond organ tonight, Tom Berge is a jazz pianist and music teacher based in Bath, with a 1st Class Honours (BA) in Jazz Piano (Leeds College of Music) and an MA in Composition for Film and TV (Bristol University). He plays regularly with his own trio across the UK and has tutored at the Yamaha Jazz School in Falmouth and at the Dordogne Jazz Summer School.

Alex Goodyear is a Cardiff based drummer, bandleader and composer who last appeared at the club in December with Yetii. Since graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2019, he has become a regular of the South West Jazz scene, working with artists including Sam Crockatt, Alan Barnes, Steve Fishwick, Denny Ilett, and Rebecca Nash. Alongside working with Yetii, Alex’s current projects include John Law’s “Re-Creations” Quartet, and the “Energizer” Trio, co-led by Alex Merritt on sax and Ashley John Long on bass.