One of the country’s top saxophonists will be performing live in Welwyn Garden City this evening (Sunday).

Alan Barnes and his octet can be seen at the Sunday night Herts Jazz Club concert at the Hawthorne Theatre complex.

Joining Alan on saxes, clarinet and bass clarinet will be Henry Lowther on trumpet, Mark Nightingale on trombone, Karen Sharp on saxes/clarinet, Robert Fowler on saxes/clarinet/flute, David Newton on piano, Adam King on bass and Herts Jazz’s Clark Tracey on drums.

A club spokesman said: “Alan is always a welcome face at Herts Jazz Club, and it’s a pleasure to have him fronting this stellar ensemble.

“This band surely needs very little introduction.”

Alan began his jazz career more than 40 years ago, and has now recorded almost 50 CDs, most of them under his own name.

He has worked with a huge number of people in the jazz world and twice been BBC Jazz instrumentalist of the year, in 2001 and 2006, and has won the ‘Critics Choice’ UK Jazz Award for one or other of his instruments a total of eight times.

Originally a member of the Midnight Follies, and then the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, he joined the Humphrey Lyttelton band in 1988 as a replacement for Bruce Turner.

At the same time he formed the Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet.

Today, his own groups take many forms, from trio to octet, and constitute a variety of the best known solo and accompanying artists, as can be seen in the line-up set for Welwyn Garden City.

Tonight’s gig will take place in Herts Jazz’s new home in the Screen2 auditorium at the Garden City Cinema, at Campus West.

Advance tickets cost £3 students, £10 members, £13 concessions and £14 full.

Walk-ups are £5 students, £12 members, £15 concessions and £16 full.

Book online at www.hertsjazz.co.uk/currentseason.html

* For more information about Herts Jazz Club, see www.hertsjazz.co.uk