Sexteto Gringo

Andy Hague - trumpet, Ben Waghorn - tenor sax, Jim Blomfield - piano, Sol Ahmed - bass, Lisa Cherian - congas, Mark Whitlam - drumsTrumpeter Andy Hague ran his popular salsa/jazz octet Conjunto Gringo from 2010 to 2018, and now presents a slimmed down sextet version to play rearranged versions of the Conjunto repertoire, plus lots of new ones.

Aiming to please equally both the jazz and salsa audiences the set contains latin-jazz classics from Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, combined with a few Hague originals.

The regular jazz quintet line-up is expanded to sextet for this project by the addition of Lisa Cherian on congas - a pretty much ubiquitous face in the Bristol music scene, Lisa seems to play in nearly every band that relies on a strong groove - Mankala, Jingu Bang, K'Chevere, Aji Pa' Ti and World Government to name but a few.

Well known in Bristol's jazz scene, in 2019 Andy Hague played for the first time with legendary UK jazz composer Mike Westbrook as part of his Uncommon Orchestra, and post-Covid the band has appeared at Cheltenham and Cambridge Jazz Festivals, the Rossini Festival in Lugo, Italy and Ronnie Scott's 2022 and 2023.

Long-term associate saxophonist Ben Waghorn is a versatile musician who has worked in London's West End and on many pop, TV, and film recordings.

He can also be heard on recordings with Geoff Eales and Dave Stapleton [Slowly Rolling Camera].

Ben has also recently performed with the BBC Big Band and played in Singapore with the London Concert Orchestra.

Pianist Jim Blomfield has been a vital part of Bristol's jazz scene for many years but is now gaining national recognition for his outstanding latin/salsa style playing.

Besides performing with The Bristol Salsa Orchestra, Dockside Latin Orchestra and Dockside Revolutions, JIm has also played recently with salsa legend Roberto Pla at London's Pizza Express. "Jim Blomfield is the best British pianist you've never heard of and is an absolute marvel" - Independent on Sunday.

Bassist Sol Ahmed is a mainstay of Bristol's latin scene whilst Mark Whitlam is chief drum tutor at Bristol's BIMM music college.Video: Salsa Plagio