This new collaboration showcases the contrasting alto saxophone talents of co-leaders Alan Barnes and Tony Kofi. Kofi is a heavier toned, blues drenched wailer of the Jackie McLean School, whilst Barnes has taken the lighter, crisply articulated phrasing of Art Pepper as his guiding light.

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Put the two different approaches together and the chemistry is instantly explosive, producing some of the most committed, yet accessible, hard swinging music around.

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Alan Barnes has won over 25 British Jazz Awards and twice been made BBC jazz musician of the year. He has performed with bands as diverse as Stan Tracey and Humphrey Lyttelton as well as writing and arranging for his own ensembles.

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Tony Kofi is also a recipient of the BBC Jazz Musician of the year award as well as best ensemble in the Parliamentary awards. He has worked in the Abdul Ibrahim big band and the World Saxophone Quartet.

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Rod Youngs on drums and Adam King on bass create a tight and driving force behind the amiable but intense exchanges of the front line and John Turville on piano combines exciting, rhythmic comping in the ensemble and with a free- wheeling and exuberant approach to soloing.

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The album ‘Aggregation’ is available from Woodville Records.