Nat Steele Sextet

The music of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Milt Jackson.

Nat Steele, vibraphone; Steve Fishwick, trumpet; Sammy Mayne, alto sax; John Pearce, piano; Matt Home, drums; Mike Karn, double bass.

The Dizzy Gillespie Sextet existed in the early 50s as a vehicle to feature the great, hugely innovative Charlie Parker. Bird, as he was otherwise known, was unfortunately unreliable and would often not turn up at gigs with the band, or arrive very late.

To cover for him, Milt Jackson was brought into the band, and on those occasions when Dizzy, Milt and Bird were all there at the same time, they'd play Dizzy's arrangement's together. Although sadly no recordings of this lineup exist, members of the band tonight will reimagine how this sextet would have sounded.

Vibraphonist Nat Steele has become highly regarded in recent years as an excellent interpreter of the straight ahead jazz idiom, attracting compliments from Joe Locke and Eric Alexander, among others.