LLANDUDNO JAZZ FESTIVAL

 

DEAN MASSER and NEIL YATES have decided to STOP worrying about the state of the world in general and play some uplifting jazz to raise their spirits, and they're ready to share the good vibes with you!*

 

Together, throughout 2013, they embarked on a quest to improve their understanding and skills. They ruthlessly critiqued each other's performance and playing, leaving no stone unturned in a quest to better themselves. Dean sought out online mentorship, studying with US jazz masters like Hal Galper, locking himself away in the shed with his horn until he emerged with a new understanding and fludiity. 

 

Meanwhile Neil travelled to New York on an Arts Council Wales funded trip to imbibe the music in the city and study with the current jazz crop, like Mike Rodriguez, Jeremy Pelt, Billy Drewes and Scott Wendholt (Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra), returning home to a rigorous practice schedule, working all the advice and guidance into his concept of improvisation, performance. and composition.

 

The result?

 

They've raised their game...

 

Now, by delving into jazz history and applying their new-found musical acumen, they've combined some new compositions with arrangements of some of the pivotal tunes in the genre, and have created a show that is at once musically exciting and humourously presented. They're bringing back a combination of witty banter and musical seriousness that Britain became famous for in the 1960s, but that has, for the most part, been sorely missed since the passing of Humphrey Lyttelton, Ronnie Scott and their contemporaries. 

 

With MESSENGERS LEGACY they are joined in the frontline  by Alan Barnes and Brian Archer, and propelled along by a killing rhythm section: John Donaldson, Tom Hill and Mark Fletcher.

 

"It is quite often said that the jazz musicians of the younger generation tend to lack history in their playing. This is certainly not the case with Messrs Masser & Yates. Both exhibit a thorough knowledge of the art form, crucially going back many years before be-bop. Their playing is of the highest quality, rich in tone, exciting, always well constructed and never self-indulgent. Entertainment value in jazz concerts is seemingly low on the agenda for some musicians....not with these guys....they go all-out to bring every piece and every solo to life. Definitely ‘five-star’ every time!"

 

Dr Ian Darrington MBE

Artistic Director, Wigan International Jazz Festival