The Clark Tracey Quartet play Under Milk Wood & A Child's Christmas.

The 30th December 2026 is the centenary of Stan Tracey's birth, and so our last gig of the year is a celebration of the Godfather of British Jazz, in the form of a performance by the Clark Tracey Quartet of two suites composed by the great British pianist, each inspired by the writing of Dylan Thomas.

The first of these suites was originally recorded in March 1965, by Stan Tracey's quartet of the period, which included Bobby Wellins on tenor, Jeff Clyne on bass and Jackie Dougan on drums. On release, A Jazz Suite: Under Milk Wood was praised in terms rarely applied to British jazz records, and has maintained its status as a classic up to the present day.

The second suite came much later in Stan's life: it is a response to Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, and was recorded in January 2011 by a quartet…