THE Neil Maya Quartet, popular throughout the region through regular gigs and tours with Dorset’s Artsreach, comes to Dorchester Corn Exchange on Thursday 23rd January, with a celebration of the music and tragically short life of one of the greatest jazz musicians ever – the Charlie Parker Story.

The quartet’s Charlie Parker concert has dates with Artsreach at Gillingham School on Wednesday 12th February, Nether Compton village hall on Friday 14th and Sturminster Marshall memorial hall on Saturday 15th. On Sunday 16th, the quartet is at New Milton Memorial Centre.

Hear the music and life of the great alto saxophonist, one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time, who created a new genre in jazz – bebop – with fast tempos, virtuosic technique and advanced harmonies.

In this new show, saxophonist Neil Maya celebrates some of Charlie’s finest compositions as well as some great jazz standards that Charlie brought to prominence. In between numbers Neil will also talk about Charlie’s eventful and troubled short life and the influence he had on jazz.

Maya plays in many jazz bands including the Drat Pack, All Jazzed Up, the nationally touring Magnificent Buble and his own quartet. He has been praised for his “electrifying performance with crisp melody lines and improvisation.”

Neil will be accompanied by another Dorset favourite, Philip Clouts, at the piano, with Kevin Sanders on the bass and Gary Evans on the drums. Philip Clouts’ international career has included playing at Ronnie Scott’s, large festivals such as Glastonbury and Womad, and equally in the plush and intimate surroundings of London’s Lanesborough Hotel. Jazzwise magazine has praised his ‘enjoyable, easy swinging’ playing, and his albums have received widespread critical acclaim and national airplay, including on BBC’s Jamie Cullum Show.

The quartet will be playing many of Charlie’s most famous compositions and recordings including Ornithology, Yardbird Suite, Now’s the Time, Blues For Alice, Cherokee and many more.