Mark Crooks

A terrific, tasteful player on both saxophone and clarinet, Mark Crooks has forged an unrivalled reputation in a variety of settings, from jazz club to concert hall and West End theatre. A member of the award-winning Back to Basie Orchestra and the John Wilson Orchestra (who have been featured annually at the BBC Proms since 2009), Mark’s considerable talent has also seen him performing alongside celebrated artists such as Tony Bennett, Sir Simon Rattle, Lady Gaga and Dame Cleo Laine. Tonight he has teamed up with the fantastic guitarist Colin Oxley (Stacey Kent) and bassist Simon Read in an intimate trio setting celebrating the music of the seminal US clarinet player Jimmy Giuffre (“The Train And The River”), known for his pared-down, bluesy, ‘down-home’ style of jazz which he liked to call ‘Swamp Jazz’!

"The phenomenally gifted Mark Crooks...the quartet is everything you could wish for – swinging, supple and, most importantly, always appropriate” Jazz Journal; "Crooks's tenor rises to the challenge...a performance that strikes a balance between muscle and lyricism" Sunday Times; “virtuoso perfection” Jazzwise