Simon Currie’s 6plus1 deliver a highly-entertaining mixture of New Orleans jazz, Ska, funk, rock and comedy. Seven seasoned musicians, they just love having fun.
Simon is a true virtuoso musician - equally at home playing soprano, alto, tenor or baritone sax, flute and clarinet - with a gilt-edged pedigree. He’s been playing with Paul Jones and the Manfreds (ex Manfred Mann) for nearly 20 years, and has toured with a stellar list of guest artists including Colin Blunstone, Chris Farlowe, Long John Baldry, Paul Young, Allan Price, PP Arnold, Zoot Money and Cliff Bennet. Simon has released two solo albums - Monochrome To Colour and Time Lapse. He has also written 2 albums with Mike Hugg (Founder of Manfred Mann) Sanctuary and Walking Through Tomorrow.
With Simon on tenor saxophone, clarinet and flute, 6plus1 comprises: Mike Wilkins on baritone and alto saxophone, Chris Hadland on drums, James Lowe and Andy Townsend on trumpets, Ross Law on trombone and Mark Probert on tuba.
You name a jazz band and one of the 6plus1 guys will probably have played with them: from Herb Miller and Joe Loss to Bert Kaempfert. Their individual musical careers have been far more diverse.
Apart from composing and arranging, Simon has backed legends from Liza Minelli to Jerry Lewis and George Benson. Mike, like Simon, started in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and recently played in New York with the Spike Orchestra and saxophonist John Zorn. Chris played in the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and on the soundtrack to the film Pan. Mark was in One Brass for 13 years and went classical with the Southbank Sinfonia. Ross and Andy play in Andy’s own Big Band too. Meanwhile, James has supported Rizzle Kicks, the Stranglers and Mumford & Sons.
6plus1 guarantee a fun evening for all ages with a dose of good music! Paul Jones is quoted as saying, “It’s brilliant to see a bunch of great musicians having such fun - the jazz was top class too".