Ollie Howell Quintet

Ollie Howell is a drumming phenomenon. As a student at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, he took part in a concert staged for the benefit of the legendary Quincy Jones, who was visiting Cardiff, and so impressed the man known simply as Q that he became Howell's mentor. Another jazz legend, former Miles Davis drummer Jimmy Cobb was similarly taken with Howell's prowess and has also taken Howell under his wing.

As a band leader, Howell follows in the spirit of Art Blakey, whose Jazz Messengers were the byword for accessible, musically powerful and stirring jazz for four decades, giving his young colleagues the spotlight while steering the music from the back and adding colour and detail to the rich melodic content.

Featuring tenor saxophonist Duncan Eagles, trumpeter Mark Perry, pianist Matt Robinson and bassist Max Luthert alongside Howell, the group is both a powerhouse of energy and vitality and a superbly reflective unit as their Sutures and Stitches album confirms.