Friday 31 October 2025
Gary Willcox Quartet plays Cole Porter!
Cole Porter was one of the greatest composers of popular song in the early and mid 20th Century and a major contributor to the American Songbook.
His melodies were captivating and their musical forms indelible on the listeners ear.
Many of his songs became Jazz Standards played by everyone; Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker. Coleman Hawkins, to name a few.
The Be Bop musicians used his songs as templates for their own creations and musical vehicles.
This evening a quartet of some of the UK's finest musicians play their version of some Cole Porter classics; How Deep is The Ocean, So in Love, Everything I Love, Just One of Those Things and others will be interpreted with excitement and intimacy by:
Riley Stone-Lonergan - tenor saxophone
Tim Lapthorn - piano
Andrew Robb - double bass
Gary Willcox - drums
"(Gary Willcox)...a brisk, sensitive drummer capable of great dynamic and textural range…" - Chris Parker, Vortex Review
“Lapthorn blends witty invention with deep swing and unerring reassuring balance” - Mojo
Gary Willcox, born in 1972 and from Shepperton, Middlesex, started playing the drums when he was 10 years old. Under his Father's partial influence he quickly became immersed in the great jazz drummers Buddy Rich, Art Blakey, Max Roach and the jazz tradition.
Since the Mid 90's Gary has performed around the UK and Europe with Jim Mullen, Stan Sulzmann, Ian Shaw, Chris Batchelor, Polly Gibbons, to name a few.
In 2007 Gary joined the Way Out West Collective, a body of musicians based in the West London area who collaborate to promote regular Jazz events in that area.
Since Covid, Gary has lead different groups and appeared with some of London's talented, rising stars, picking up a following around London's live music venues.
UK-based Irishman Riley Stone-Lonergan started working as a professional musician in Ireland at the age of 16. Riley soon moved to the UK to study at Leeds College of Music. In 2011, he graduated with 1st Class Honours and was the recipient of a number of awards including the Dave Cooper Memorial Prize for Jazz Saxophone, John Scheerer Prize for Woodwind and David Hoult Prize for Outstanding Performance.
Tim Lapthorn is an English jazz pianist. Born in Newmarket 1976 and raised in Cambridge, Tim initially studied French and philosophy at Leeds University and then decided to change paths, completing a jazz diploma at Guildhall School of Music in 2000 where he studied with Simon Purcell, Nikki Iles and Pete Churchill.
Andrew Robb is a sought-after educator of Jazz, Improvisation and Double Bass. He has worked with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, The National Youth Jazz Collective, The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and The National Children's Orchestra of Scotland.
www.rileystonelonergan.wordpress.com
www.rcs.ac.uk/bio/andrew-robb/
Video 1 (Gary Willcox Quartet – “Bogi’s Boogie” – live): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgq3Ixg4xgM&list=RDxgq3Ixg4xgM&start_radio=1
Video 2 (The Drummer/Composers Project – Epistrophy -live): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUCugnasd8Q&list=RDvUCugnasd8Q&start_radio=1
