Friday 16th October 2026
The Wobbly Rail Five will play compositions by Pete Hurt, Chris Biscoe, Liam Noble and the ever inspiring Thelonious Monk!
Line up:
Chris Biscoe – alto and soprano saxes and alto clarinet
Pete Hurt - tenor and soprano sax
Liam Noble - piano
Steve Watts – bass
Sophie Alloway - drums
Co-led by Chris Biscoe and Pete Hurt, the Wobbly Rail Five features compositions by Pete, Chris, Liam Noble and the always inspiring Thelonious Monk. The band's name is inspired by steam trains and a Cecil Taylor composition, which gives a clue to the band's eclectic approach. The emphasis is on melody, rhythm, dynamics and an openness to exploring contrasting musical areas.
Pete Hurt and Chris Biscoe have played together, toured and recorded in the George Russell Anglo-American Orchestra, the Andy Sheppard Big Band and many small groups, including the Liam Noble Band. Chris also appeared on Pete's first big band record, 'Lost For Words', while Pete played on Chris's 'Profiles of Mingus', so this co-led band is a logical outcome of a long and varied musical partnership. Some new compositions by both leaders are featured, but some older pieces re-appear, such as the delightfully lyrical 'Lost for Words' in small band guise, and arrangements from Liam’s ‘In the Meantime’
Chris Biscoe has been featured in many bands, including Mike Westbrook projects from trio to big band, the George Russell Anglo American Orchestra, Hermeto Pascoal Big Band and David Murray Band. He has recorded with Westbrook, Russell, Liam Noble and Pete Hurt. Records under his own name explore the music of Charles Mingus with Henry Lowther and Pete Hurt, Eric Dolphy with Tony Kofi, and Gerry Mulligan/Paul Desmond in ‘Two of a Mind’ with Allison Neale. ‘Oh Pioneers’ by The Wobbly Rail Five features original compositions, while ‘Music Is’ presents music and songs by Mike Westbrook re-imagined for instrumental small ensembles.
Pete Hurt is equally respected as a saxophonist and composer/arranger. His big band records ‘Lost for Words’ and ‘A New Start’ have earned high praise and he writes for the London Jazz Orchestra, the BBC Radio Big Band and Norma Winstone. Pete is featured with Still Waters, led by Henry Lowther, and contributed to the Still Waters CD ‘Can’t Believe, Won’t Believe’. Pete was a long-term member of the George Russell Anglo American Orchestra, The Carla Bley Orchestra, and The Andy Sheppard Big Band and ‘Big Commotion’.
Liam Noble is an inventive and original player whose playing includes shades of Stan Tracey and other rarely heard influences without losing his very personal touch. As bandleader and writer he has led several important bands, including the quintet which recorded ‘In The Meantime’, featuring Chris Biscoe, and recorded with Tom Rainey, Drew Gress, Stan Sultzmann and Shabaka Hutchings. His Trio recording ‘Brubeck’ prompted this response from Dave Brubeck: ‘This CD will be an inspiration for me’. Other projects include ‘Pigfoot’ with Chris Batchelor, the Julian Siegel Quartet, ‘Tapestry Unravelled’ with Christine Tobin and two solo albums.
Steve Watts came to prominence in Django Bates‘s Human Chain and has gone on to play with many leading contemporary bands, including The Impossible Gentleman with Mike Walker. Steve has been working on the European Jazz scene for over 25 years, playing and recording with many musicians of international stature, including Norma Winstone, Joe Lovano, Peter Erskine, Kirk Lightsey, Adam Nussbaum, and Kenny Wheeler. A long-term member of the innovative big band Loose Tubes, Steve has stayed closely associated with its leading figure, including Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Julian Arguelles, Chris Batchelor and Mark Lockheart.
Sophie Alloway’s many and diverse credits include Chihiro Yamanaka, Jason Rebello, Yazz Ahmed, Laurence Cottle, George Melly, Shez Raja, Geoff Eales, Nigel Price, Tony Allen, Tony Kofi and Roots Manaya. Her own projects include The Lydian Collective, playing original fusion music, which has received more than six million Spotify streams, and The Sophie Alloway Quartet featuring Mornington Lockett and Flo Moore.
„Biscoe is a saxophone virtuoso of great lyricism, passion, stamina and considerable versatility. He is steeped in the jazz tradition and his conception embraces everything from blues and gospel roots to free improvisation and jazz rock” - Ian Carr, The Rough Guide to Jazz
„There's no aimless filling from Noble; he prefers dense, angular finger-butts, distant salsa chord structures hazily definable at times, Monkish ringing apparent at others, with even some moments of Stan Tracey jabbing or Howard Riley bebop transmogrification” - Martin Longley, Birmingham Post
www.triorecords.co.uk/pete_hurt.html
www.editionrecords.com/artists/liam-noble/
www.fleetjazz.wordpress.com/steve-watts/
https://chrisbiscoe.bandcamp.com/album/wobbly-rail-five
Video 1 (Chris Biscoe's Mingus Profiles Sextet – live): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj-hV_dRHpI
