Jazz at Progress | Nick Tomalin’s ‘Shades of Shearing’ Quintet |  Tickets on sale soon

Friday 27 November 2026 | Progress Theatre, Reading | 7: 30pm | £20.00, £18.00 concessions, £10 under 16 plus 3.5% booking fee.

Nick Tomalin formed his ‘Shades of Shearing’ Quintet in 2021 to celebrate the remarkable musical legacy of iconic British-born, blind-from-birth, jazz pianist George Shearing. The band features the same line-up as his classic quintet which captured the imagination of fans world-wide with hit recordings  like ‘September in the Rain’, ‘Conception’ and ‘Lullaby of Birdland’.

As a Guildhall School of Music student in 1994, Nick enjoyed the thrilling opportunity to feature in a televised masterclass with George Shearing himself.

Nick has been working as a professional jazz pianist in London for nearly thirty years. His tasteful bebop-inspired piano style has made him a regular on the London scene and he’s worked with some of the biggest names in UK jazz including Jim Mullen, Mark Lockheart, Alan Barnes, Stan Sulzman among many others.

“Well worth checking out, especially if you’re a Shearing fan. If you’re not, I guarantee you soon will be!” –  Lance Liddle (Bebop Spoken Here)

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