After a well-earned break, we’re kicking off the new year at The Bear Club with tenor sax maestro Fraser Smith, who joins us with his crack quartet.
Fraser is a regular at some of London’s leading clubs and has brought his band to Ronnie Scott’s on numerous occasions. Signed to the esteemed UK jazz label Ubuntu Music, his latest album Lifeline! was ranked in The Times’ Top 25 Jazz Albums of 2025.
Born in Birmingham and raised between the Midlands and Wales, Fraser first picked up the sax at fifteen. He discovered the music of Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Ike Quebec via the Woolworth's bargain bucket, and after studying hundreds of their solos, now considers himself a 'practical scholar' - bringing the sounds of a bygone era to a modern stage.
With a focus on swing and the straight-ahead, he channels the sound and language of the big tenor men like Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, and Illinois Jacquet. His music harks back to the golden ages of jazz, from 1940s Kansas City to 1960s New York, while still feeling bang up to date.
Featuring Fraser Smith (tenor sax), Rob Barron (piano), Steve Brown (drums), and Simon Read (bass).
“Lifeline! is a total success on its own terms. Smith’s command of his chosen idiom is undisputed and in Barron, Read and Brown he has three other masters of their chosen jazz field”
“Smith is very much his own man whilst at the same time advancing the tradition”
“Read with strong, centred basslines and the steadfast Brown crisp and to the point, but above all, it’s the superior piano of Rob Barron that stands out, his playing brim-full of ideas, each solo a mini-master class in boppish expression”
Doors 7pm / Music 8.30pm / Tickets £16 / £10 for members
All seating/tables are first-come, first-served.