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GARY ALLCOCK & HIS MIDLAND ALL-STARS BIG BAND
Gary Allcock's All-Stars Band and singers have built up a magnificent reputation over the years, backing such top names as Maynard Ferguson, Cleo Laine, Kenny Baker, Mel Torme and Marlene VerPlanck. The show, Tribute to the Swing Era is a homage to the big band sounds of the inter-war years, most notably the music of Glenn Miller. The list of musicians whose work is regularly performed by the band is a roll call of all-time greats: Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Nat 'King' Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and many more.

GREG ABATE (USA)
Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1947, saxophonist/flautist Greg Abate is now based in neighbouring Rhode Island where he is an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College, though as a much in-demand musician and educator he spends 150 days annually touring throughout the States and internationally. Greg played lead alto with the Ray Charles Orchestra for two years in the mid-1970s before forming his own group Channel One and playing tenor sax with the Artie Shaw Orchestra under Dick Johnson. His first CD under his own name, Bop City, Live at Birdland, was released on Candid in 1991. A dozen albums later, his 2004 CD, Evolution, garnered Grammy nominations in four categories.

JANE TAYLOR
When Johnny Walker played a song called Fall on Me on BBC Radio 2, he was inundated with emails asking who the new singer-songwriter was and requesting more plays for the song. It turned out that Fall on Me comes from Montpelier, the debut album by a singer-songwriter from Bristol, Jane Taylor, who since then has played a live session for the BBC, secured a distribution deal for her CD and opened for Jools Holland at the Larmer Tree Festival.

JOHN DUNMORE BOOGIE BAND
This exuberant Midlands-based six-piece takes as its territory the music of the 1950s and 1960s. The repertoire covers the songs of such great entertainers as Fats Domino and Louis Prima, plus a healthy dose of rhythm & blues.

JOHN PATRICK
John Patrick's piano playing has graced the performances of many American stars who have visited the UK since the 1960s. For many years John fronted his own Big Band, but he is at his best in a small group setting playing hard-swinging modern jazz in the company of equally accomplished musicians.

JONNY BOSTON
Singer/saxophonist/songwriter Jonny Boston has had an eventful and varied jazz career, starting with his debut with the Bahrain Jazz Quartet at the age of 15! After a spell with Max Collie's Rhythm Aces he studied at Leeds College of Music, becoming Yorkshire Television's Young Jazz Player of the Year. On leaving college, he formed the Boston Tea Party, since when he has played with a remarkable collection of jazz bands and musicians. A random sample includes King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, TJ Johnson's Band, Ken Peplowski, John Dankworth, Jamie Cullum and Roy Hargrove! His recent CD, Runnin' Wild (Sheldon Records) mainly features Jonny as singer and songwriter.

JUDITH HAUSTEIN (GERMANY)
Judith is a Jazz musician and composer from Germany whose main influences lie in Brazilian music and Jazz. Judith's music is characteristic for its wild fusion of different styles - Jazz, 70s Fusion, Brazilian music, Trip Hop, Soul, Folk and love songs, which are all incorporated in a vivid mixture of musical ingredients. Her influences range from Pat Metheny, Kenny Wheeler, Airto Moreira, Bjork, Erykah Badu, Billie Holiday and Sade. Whilst being involved in various different music production projects she has self-produced her debut Album Fire&Sleep and is currently working on the prodution of her latest material.

KATYA GORRIE (CANADA)
Canadian songstress and songwriter Katya Gorrie was actually born in Liverpool, where her thespian father was directing a theatre company, before moving back to Vancouver with 18 month old Katya. She came to jazz via The Royal Winnepeg Ballet School, her parents touring theatre company and the Royal Conservatory of Music where she trained to be an opera singer, then switching to the intensive jazz programme at Capilano College. Now UK-based, Katya has recorded two impressive albums. The latest is Tales of Misbehaviour on Mainstream Records. Katya Gorrie also features with the hotly-tipped all-girl blues band Rogue Dolls.

KEL ELLIOTT'S BAND
Kel Elliott's Band, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire's Band of the Month for October 2007, hails from Warwick and all bring a range of styles and influences to the group. Singer/bassist Kel herself was brought up hearing Irish folk music and was introduced to the folk club scene by her parents at an early age. Though her career began with a folk band, she has now branched out into jazz, blues and Western swing. Their CD, How Could I Resist, has been getting airplay and the band is steadily making its mark on the national folk/acoustic scene.

KRISSY MATTHEWS BAND
Blues boy Krissy Matthews came into the blues scene four years ago at the age of 11. Now 15 years old, Krissy has performed live on stage with John Mayall, Jeff Healey, Bernie Marsden, Walter Trout and Larry Burton and toured with Robben Ford.

LEXIE STOBIE BAND
Lexie is Worcester's Lexie Stobie, scarily, still in her teens, but creating massive waves of interest with her earthy gospel-tinged voice and enthusiastic, but totally grounded, approach to performing. Two years ago Lexie, aged 16, was already a phenomenally successful Christian singer/songwriter, releasing her second CD and building a huge local reputation, with her albums regularly played on BBC Hereford and Worcester Radio. Since then she has enlarged her range and is a definite candidate for the UK's next soul diva, with her powerful singing and superbly empathetic emotion.

LIGHTNIN' WILLIE AND THE POORBOYS (USA)
Blues singer/guitarist Lightnin' Willie Hermes is originally from Texas, a brilliant musician who orchestrates a delicately balanced mix of powerful blues, rich vocals and slide guitar. Emerging from the clubs and bars of the U.S blues scene, Lightnin' Willie is an accomplished and hard-working singer and songwriter. Now based in Los Angeles, he is a talented and eloquent story-teller who has an over-riding love of playing 'the Devil's music'. A recent highlight for Willie is playing at Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic in Fort Worth, Texas, on a bill including Bob Dylan, Ray Price and Merle Haggard.

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