Venue: Old School Rooms / Assembly Hall, Lowergate, Clitheroe

One couldn’t wish for a more talented and versatile group of musicians! All are highly regarded instrumentalists well known across the North of England and beyond.

Steve Childs – Tenor, Soprano Sax + Flute, John Ellis – Keyboards, Grant Russell – Double Bass, Tim Franks – Drums.

Repertoire ranges from the American Song Book to Jazz Funk, and everything in between. Material by jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Mike Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Turrentine, Yusef Lateef, George Coleman, & Joe Henderson, amongst others. 

Steve Childs: Has run his own jazz quartet for many years collaborating with Gary Boyle, Victor Brox and many others. He was taught classical clarinet before converting to jazz under the guidance of the saxophonist Don Rendell. He’s performed regularly since the early 1970’s as a soloist, in quartets, small bands, and more recently big bands. Currently he is the tenor soloist for the Suburban Swing Orchestra, and the Alan Bracewell Big Band. Steve organised and ran the house band for Nº 39’s legendary jam sessions in Darwen for many years, always presenting a stellar line up of some of the leading players in the region. 

John Ellis: Keyboards with Honeyfeet, Baked A La Ska and many many more. John is no stranger to Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues and is a highly in demand keyboard player. His musical versatility has supported jazz stars and played music in all genres having worked with everyone from Lilly Allen to Tom Jones! He recently teamed up with Alabaster DePlume at the London Jazz Festival in a trans-Atlantic line-up of musicians from London & Chicago.
 
Grant Russell: String Bass with his own quartet, SK2 Big Band, Munch Manship Quartet, Nick Ross Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, GoGo Penguin; and many others.
 
Tim Franks: In addition to running his own quintet, Tim’s been privileged to play with some great musicians including the saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jack Bruce of Cream, Collin Hodgkinson of Backdoor, The Gary Boyle Band, The Norman Beaker Band, Victor Brox and Chris Farlowe. He currently plays for the Hootin’ Annies Big Band.