[short_description]

Tony Kofi - alto saxophone
Byron Wallen - trumpet
Larry Bartley - double bass
Rod Youngs - drums

The Tony Kofi Quartet was formed 4 years ago as a result of Tony Kofi being asked in 2010 by Ornette Coleman’s former Prime Time bass player Jamaaladeen Tacuma to go to New York to record on his new album For the Love of Ornette which featured the great man himself. The influence has inspired Kofi to put together this collective of world-class musicians who have all been touched and inspired by the music of Ornette Coleman. 

Expect to hear all the classic Ornette Coleman compositions from The Shape of Jazz to Come, This is our Music, Something Else, Tomorrow is the Question and Beauty is a Rare Thing.

Tony Kofi Quartet will be supported with an opening set by Liverpool based quartet Blind Monk Theory?

Martin Smith - trumpet/ flugelhorn
Bob Whittaker - saxophone
Hugo Harrison - bass
Johnny Hunter - drums

Blind Monk Trio formed early 2012 playing arrangements of Thelonious Monk tunes without a pianist!  After performing at many Festival and club dates (Gateshead International Jazz Fest, Mostly Jazz Fest, Manchester Jazz Fest, Marsden Jazz Fest, Liverpool International Jazz Festival, Manchester Literature Fest, Buxton International Fest), the trio were quickly recognised as one of Liverpool's most prolific jazz ensembles.

Expanded to a quartet featuring The Weave's Martin Smith on trumpet, the latest incarnation of the band, Blind Monk Theory? performs music that forges wide-ranging influences - jazz, folk, beats, african, asian, classical, cinematic, rock, electronic into a unique sound firmly steeped in the legendary chordless groups of Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and the compositions of Thelonious Monk, yet simultaneously yielding a current UK jazz revivalist vibe.