JOHN Petters Swing Band will line up tonight with three superb saxophonists at St John’s ARC in Old Harlow tonight (Thursday, March 27).

Australians, Steve Dagg and Karl Hird will be joined Cambridge’s premier jazzman, Andy Bowie, in what promises to be an outstanding evening of jazz.

The band will perform music from the early New Orleans style to the swing sounds of the 1930s and 40s.

Karl Hird and Steve Dagg are musical companions from the Australian jazz scene. They began playing together during the 1980s in Melbourne and combined forces through a shared love of the great swing masters, particularly Ben Webster, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.

The two friends collaborated for many years until Karl moved to the UK. He has since become one of the most popular reedmen – on both saxophone and clarinet – on the UK jazz scene.

Steve lives and works in Melbourne, doing what he does best, playing the music from an irreplaceable era.

Andy Bowie started playing jazz as a student and lived in Berlin in the 1970s where he played with the Blue Bayou Band, and other groups.

Since returning to England he has run a regular weekly gig in Cambridge for much of the last 30 years.

His influences in jazz come from every period. In the early 1990s, he worked with the legendary Fats Waller guitarist, Al Casey.

Thursday’s gig will see the welcome return of pianist/multi-instrumentalist, Colin Bray, who has just flown in from the USA, where he enjoyed some exciting sessions with musicians in Palm Springs.

Harlow’s own bass ace, Keith Donald and drummin’ man, John Petters complete the line-up.

Show starts at 8pm. Entry is £10.

For more information visit www.traditional-jazz.com.