An exciting and inventive saxophonist, Art Themen has been an appealing presence on the British jazz circuit for over 60 years. A previous winner of the tenor sax category in the British Jazz Awards, recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Worshipful Company of Musicians and shortlisted for the Jazz Instrumentalist of the year in the recent Parliamentary Jazz Awards, this living legend has famously combined his role as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon with saxophone duties in the bands of Alexis Korner and Stan Tracey as well as recordings with Joe Cocker, Jack Bruce and even Bing Crosby. Described by THE OBSERVER as "One of the tiny handful of undeniably perfect jazz musicians”, he remains as brilliant and inimitable as ever.
To celebrate Art's 85th birthday, we launched the third Organ Trio album Live In Soho on Ubuntu Music at Ronnie Scott’s on November 3rd 2024, capturing a magical night at PizzaExpressLive in Dean Street
" A perfectly melded unit... A masterclass in tenor technique" JAZZ JOURNAL
"One of the most distinguished trios on Britain's scene today" JAZZ RAG
"I heard this band and thought them a wow..the total performance a joy" JAZZWISE
"Buy the album, and, if they play near you, go to see and hear them, you will not be disappointed and you will enjoy them." JAZZ VIEWS
"An eclectic mix of Latin, ballads, hard bop and some that avoid categorisation, all performed to perfection by three masters of their craft." BEBOP SPOKEN HERE
"Beautiful tracks..African Market Place & Country are jewels" MORNING STAR
Gig Calender & Archive
2025
Jan 18th Scarborough Jazz Club
Jan 19th Leeds Seven Arts
Feb 2nd PizzaExpressLive Dean Street, Soho
Feb 7th Bull's Head Barnes
Feb 17th Milford Arms, Isleworth
Feb 18th Watermill Jazz Dorking
Feb 28th Whitty Theatre, Wokingham
March 1st Two Sisters Arts Trimley
March 8th Berkhamsted Jazz Club
March 11th Harwich, New Bell Inn
March 12th Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
May 14th Dulwich Festival
May 31st Highworth Jazz Festival
June 7th Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall with Jim Watson
June 19th Art Themen Organ Trio - Cadogan Hall Foyer (12pm)
June 20th The Crypt, Camberwell
July 10th Bures Music Festival, with Denny Ilett
July 20th Jazz at Imber Court
Sept 11th George IVth Chiswick, with Denny Ilett
Oct 21st Marlow Jazz Club
Nov 5th Music in Felixstowe, Orwell Hotel 12pm
Nov 6th The Crooked Billet, Stoke Row
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2024
March 16th Kenton Theatre Henley-On-Thames
March 17th Frinton Jazz Club - with Denny Ilett & Martin Shaw
March 27th Eastbourne Jazz Club
April 14th Phyllis Court, Henley, Sextet
April 30th Eastside Jazz Leyton
May 1st Crooked Billett, Stoke Row
May 3rd Birmingham Jazz
May 13th North Devon Jazz Club
May 14th Fougou Jazz Torbay
May 30th Bonnington Theatre, Nottingham
June 20th Wargrave - With Denny Ilett
July 12th Swanage Jazz Festival
July 18th Vortex Jazz Club, Dalston
Aug 9th Marigold's Jazz, Harlow
Oct 2nd Twickenham Jazz Club
Oct 12th Pinner Jazz
Oct 26th National Jazz Archive Loughton
Nov 3rd Ronnie Scott's NEW ALBUM LAUNCH! LIVE IN SOHO
Nov 16th Southwold Jazz Club
Nov 27th Fleece Jazz
Nov 30th Peggy's Skylight, Nottingham
2023
Jan 26th Cambridge Jazz Club
Jan 29th Kenton Theatre Henley-On-Thames 3pm
Feb 12th John Peel Centre, Stowmarket with Chris Ingham & Malcolm Creese
Feb 21st Fleet Jazz Club
April 2nd Milestones Jazz Club, Lowestoft
April 16th Wavendon Stables (lunchtime)
May 18th with John Etheridge, Lauderdale House
May 21st Jazz Brunch - Watford Jazz Festival
May 26th Chichester Jazz Club
June 16th Bulls Head, Barnes
June 17th Crowmarsh Jazz, Oxfordshire
June 24th Peggy's Skylight, Nottingham 5pm & 8pm
July 28th Two Sisters Arts Centre, Trimley
Aug 11th The Bear Club, Luton
August 15th PizzaExpressLive Dean Street, Soho
Sept 10th Ipswich Jazz Club
October 5th Ronnie Scott's Club, Soho
Nov 3rd St Mary's Church, Kersey
Nov 23rd 606 Club Chelsea
Nov 24th White Hart Inn, Mersea
Dec 4th Milford Arms, Isleworth
2022
Jan 20th Jazz At The Front Room Croydon (lunchtime)
Feb 5th Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds (eve)
March 27th Kenton Theatre, Henley On Thames 3pm matinee
April 11th Reform Club Pall Mall
April 22nd Saffron Hall Foyer
April 24th Colchester Arts Centre Jazz Club
May 4th Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds (lunchtime)
May 4th 606 Chelsea (evening)
June 14th Ronnie Scott's Club, Soho
June 18th Hadleigh Jazz Club (eve) as part of 'JATP'
June 24th Harwich Festival
July 4th Bexley Jazz Club
July 6th Concorde Club, Eastleigh
July 16th The Jazz Centre UK, Southend
July 26th Watermill Jazz w/John Etheridge's Blue Spirits
Oct 1st All Saints Church Dunsden
Oct 12 Scarborough Jazz Club
Oct 13 Leeds Seven Arts
Oct 14 Wakefield Jazz Club
Nov 11th The Bear Club, Luton
Nov 17th London Jazz Festival @ The Karamel Club
Nov 23rd Fleece Jazz
2021
August 21 Blue Room Lincoln (with John Etheridge)
August 25th Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho
August 26th Aberjazz Festival, Fishguard
August 30th Oaken Grove Vineyard, Henley -on-Thames
Sept 11th Peggy's Skylight, Nottingham 5pm & 8pm
Sept 12th Market Harborough Jazz Club (with John Etheridge)
Sept 14th Norwich Jazz Club
Sept 22nd Guildford Jazz Club (with Marianne Windham)
Nov 4th Two Sisters Arts, Trimley
Nov 12th EFG London Jazz Festival - Bulls Head Barnes
Nov 15th EFG London Jazz Festival - Cadogan Hall
Nov 19th Birmingham Jazz at 1000 Trades, Jewellery Quarter
Nov 24th Fleece Jazz
2020
Jan 25th Fairycroft Arts, Saffron Walden
March 7th Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds (with Chris Ingham)
2019
May 7th Annie's Jazz Club, Southend
July 5th Fleece Jazz
Oct 2nd Southwold Jazz Club (with Chris Ingham)
Nov 14th Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall
2018
July 13th Cadogan Hall
Oct 21st Ipswich Jazz Club
Radio Interviews
Art Themen Organ Trio: 14th October, 2022 Wakefield Jazz Club
Posted by WAKEFIELDJAZZ on OCTOBER 17, 2022
Art Themen, tenor sax. Pete Whittaker, organ. George Double, Drums.
It is one of the glories of jazz that a trio (at least one of this calibre) can perform with such expressive range. It’s not just a matter of wide-ranging material, or the particulars of instrumentation or styles that cover the span of jazz history from Ben Webster to funk, It was the quality of the musicianship and the close working relationships between the players that carried the night. It was a delight from start to finish.
Art Themen’s command of the tenor showed in his beautifully crafted tone, whatever the style or tempo. There was plenty of power, but no bravura blasts, no empty histrionics. His emphasis was always on bringing out the qualities of a good melody. His soprano sax, which made an appearance in both sets, also deserves a mention. On the group’s unusual take on the old Nat King Cole number ‘The Ruby and the Pearl’ he wove around the melody like a
snake-charmer—a perilous thing to do on an instrument as wayward as a soprano—and with the kind of piercing clarity one might expect from an oboe or cor anglais. And his tenor sound went from rousingly soulful to the most delicate (and precise) high notes. When he played the Abdullah Ibrahim song, ‘Water from an Ancient Well,’ he was up against Ricky Ford in the original recording—and came out shining.
Pete Whittaker played unobtrusively and supportively throughout most of the first set, only coming to the fore in the second, providing the perfect, almost church-like accompaniment on the Ibrahim number and thereafter, given plenty of room to display his considerable talent. As though that wasn’t sufficient, he unexpectedly took to the piano for a beautiful duet with Art. As with all the best musicians, he has an abundance of talent but nothing to prove, ensuring that this is a trio by dint of more than just the number three.
Much the same can be said about George Double’s drumming. Serious musicians don’t need stage-filling drum kits: it’s refined technique, musical sensitivity and responsiveness that matter. Of course, he had a few welcome turns at tasteful and engaging solos—always musical and never self-indulgent.
Art Themen himself has a quietly engaging, unassuming stage manner, but the evident chemistry between him, Pete and George seemed to find extra-musical expression, too. By the end of the evening, it felt like we had been party to something more relaxed and intimate than a club gig. They weren’t going to get away without an encore, a delicate rendering of ‘Willow Weep for Me,’ which sent all of us out into the night, smiling.
CHICHESTER JAZZ CLUB review May 2023 https://chichesterjazzclub.co.uk/events/202223/thane-and-the-villeins/
Jazz Journal Feature March 2025
CAMBRIDGE MODERN JAZZ CLUB review January 2023 https://www.thecambridgecritique.com/home/2023/1/27/art-theman-trio
FLEECE JAZZ review November 2021 https://fleecejazz.org.uk/thoughts-on-art-themen-trio-24-november-2021/