On Friday 14th June, Sir Karl took a journey back in time to showcase his early jazz works at the Swansea International Jazz Festival with the Laurence Cottle All-Star 16-piece Big Band. The set included arrangements of tunes Sir Karl had composed and played in the 60s and 70s with the Graham Collier Sextet, a partnership that stretches back to 1966 where the pair met as students on the Barry Jazz Summer School.

Throughout the evening, the audience were treated to renditions of classics including ‘Down Another Road’, ‘Lullaby for a Lonely Child’, and the title track from the Nucleus album ‘Elastic Rock’, plus reworkings of more contemporary pieces from the Adiemus Colores album. Sir Karl, who introduced the set, also stepped up from his seat in the audience at the beginning of the second half and delighted the concertgoers by performing the piano solo at the beginning of ‘Penumbra II’.

Ahead of this event, Sir Karl commented: “Despite my move towards ‘classical’ music, my love of jazz remained with me, and I was thrilled when Dave Cottle asked me a few years back to become Patron of the Swansea International Jazz Festival. Roll on several years later to 2023 when the idea was mooted that the Laurence Cottle Big Band should perform some of my jazz tunes (from the 60s & 70s) as part of my ‘big birthday year’ - one of my early tunes was ‘Down Another Road’, hence ‘Back, Down Another Road’ as a heading for the event. I’m thrilled to be performing with Laurence and saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock again, returning to a genre I left fifty or so years ago but still dearly love.”

Photograph: Swansea Council/Phil Rees