The Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra feat. Rosario Giuliani & Byron Wallen Wednesday 3rd March - Saturday 6th March

Please note: on Fri 5th & Sat 6th March, Guy Barker's Jazz Orchestra will be performing a repertoire of original contemporary material (not the 'DZF Suite' described below). It will feature the same all-star line up of jazz performers (see below for full lineup)

On Wed 3rd & Thur 4th March, Guy Barker will be performing pieces from ‘The Amadeus Project’ - ‘dZf’.

In 2006 Guy Barker was asked to compose original music for BBC Radio 3 and the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth.

DZf, commissioned by Radio 3’s Jazz Line Up, is a 75-minute suite written for the 14-piece Jazz Orchestra and narrator – Michael Brandon. It tells a revamped and modernised version of the story of The Magic Flute, Mozart’s final opera (Die Zauberflöte). Barker invited his friend, thriller writer Robert Ryan, to take the original story and transform it into a dark, ‘Jazz Noir’ tale. The music reflects the script Ryan produced and intertwines with the narration. “The magic is certainly present in Barker’s magnificent composition, and this is just the beginning for dZf”. Sholto Byrnes, The Independent

The San Diego commission, The Amadeus Suite, is a set of pieces inspired by characters from Mozart’s operas. The music was originally written for a 9-piece US band that included pianist/composer Roger Kellaway and alto sax player Rosario Giuliani. The music was described as “witty, wacky, sexy, swinging and thoroughly enjoyable”. Sandiego.com.

The evening will be narrated by Michael Brandon and feature the following musicians:

Trumpet / Musical Director: Guy Barker

Trumpets: Nathan Ray, Tom Rees-Roberts, Byron Wallen

Trombones: Barnaby Dickinson, Alistair White

Bass Trombone: Mark Frost

Saxophones: Rosario Giuliani, Graeme Blevins, Per 'Texas' Johansson, Phil Todd

Piano/Hammond: Jim Watson

Bass: Phil Donkin

Drums: Ralph Salmins