Saturday 4 July 2026
Way Out West presents: The Great American Songbook!
As the United States celebrates Independence Day, on 4th July the Way Out West Collective will be celebrating the enduring legacy of the Great American Songbook. Led by British jazz singer Nette Robinson, Way Out West will perform their take on iconic songs from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood, made famous by legendary artists including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, Sarah Vaughan and more!..
For this event, the incredible trumpeter Martin Shaw will be joining Way Out West as their special guest.
This promises to be a truly memorable evening, paying tribute to the extraordinary American songwriting of the first half of the twentieth century that helped to shape the development of jazz and continues to inspire musicians and audiences around the world.
Line-up:
Nette Robinson – voice and saxophones
Martin Shaw - trumpet (special guest)
Pete Hurt - tenor
Meredith White - piano
Larry Bartley - bass
Gary Willcox - drums
Way Out West (WoW) is a collective of musician/composer/bandleaders based in West London which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. The membership is multi-generational and encompasses a wide range of jazz styles including bebop, swing, fusion and free/improvised.
For more information, please go to www.wowjazz.org
Martin Shaw studied at the Royal Academy and the Guildhall School of Music. In a busy performing career, he has played in a wide variety of settings both live and on recording. He has played live with a long list of artists including Brand New Heavies, Natalie Cole, Jools Holland, Jamiroquai and more recently Jamie Cullum. On recordings he has also performed with Marc Almond, Billy Ocean and Gabrielle among many others. He is a regular in many bigger band settings including Stan Tracey, John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, Michael Garrick, The Bert Kaempfert Orchestra and the BBC Big Band. In between these performing engagements Martin manages to find time to teach at the Whitgift school in Croydon, on the Wavendon Jazz course and is Professor of Jazz trumpet at Birmingham Conservatoire and the London School of Music.
Nette Robinson is a distinctive and versatile vocalist, known for her clarity, emotional depth and storytelling. She worked closely with the eminent jazz composer and pianist Michael Garrick MBE for the last few years of his life, performing his settings of poetry and arrangements of songs by Bill Evans, Kenny Wheeler and Jaco Pastorius under the name the Lyric Trio. She continues to perform as the Lyric Trio with Meredith White on piano. Aside from Michael Garrick’s songs, their repertoire now includes poetry settings by Tony Woods, herself and classical composers, such as John Ireland and Tchaikovsky. Aside from this, Nette has a variety of other musical projects, including a celebration of Chet Baker, the Little Big Band, which presents her reimaginings of Ellington and Basie big band classics with a very reduced lineup and a trio performing concerts of her arrangements of Russian songs in the original language.
Pete Hurt has quietly been part of the London Jazz scene for almost four decades and has developed one of the most distinguishable sounds and style. His skills as a writer and arranger are beautiful displayed on the album A New Start (Pete Hurt Jazz Orchestra).
Jazz pianist, singer and composer Meredith White draws influence from a wide range of styles and repertoire. After gaining a scholarship to study classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, she moved into jazz and has since performed in most of the London jazz venues, working with the likes of Cleo Laine, Norma Winstone, Shireen Francis, Sarah Moule and Dave O’Higgins. In addition to performing, Meredith has been a senior lecturer at Kingston University and an examiner/arranger for the Associated Board jazz syllabus. She continues to be involved in jazz education.
Larry Bartley is a bassist/composer who has been a staple of the London & international jazz scene since the 1990s, and has played and/or recorded in the bands of: Abdullah Ibrahim, Denys Baptiste, Steve Williamson, Courtney Pine, Bheki Mseleku, Ingrid Laugbrock, Jean Toussaint, Chris Briscoe, Basil Hodge, Adrian Reid (Jazz Warriors) Stanley Turrentine, Steve Grossman, Bennie Maupin, Harold Mabern, Chico Freeman, Donald Brown (of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers), David Murray, Orinn Evans, Gary Bartz, Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA Orchestra, Byron Wallen’s ‘Indigo’ and Jason Yarde’s ‘Trio Wah!’
Gary Willcox is an established drummer much in demand on the UK scene. He has toured with several jazz stars including Jim Mullen, Stan Sulzmann, Ian Shaw, Iain Ballamy and Polly Gibbons. He also runs his own quartet featuring the music of some of his musical heroes such as Charlie Parker and Wayne Shorter.
Web Links:
Website: https://wowjazz.org/
