Dave Cottle Quintet, Narrators Sian Lloyd & Griff Harries

Richard Burton's 'A Christmas Story'

& Dylan Thomas's'A Childs Christmas in Wales'

@Arts Wing GRAMD THEATRE , SWANSEA

2 new Jazz Suites composed by Dave Cottle

with narrators Sian Lloyd  Griff Harries & the Dave Cottle Quintet.

Intermission between the two pieces!

On Christmas Eve, eight-year-old Richard is living with his older sister in Port Talbot and is taken out of the house by his Uncle 'Mad Dan' to go and sing with the miners round the bonfire, because his sister is upstairs gravely ill ...or is she? Perhaps young Richard will be getting a festive surprise this Christmas. Written by Burton and inspired by his hero Dylan Thomas's 'A Child's Christmas in Wales', which will be performed in the second part of the show, the tale transports the audience back to Burton's memories of childhood Christmases in Port Talbot.

A Child's Christmas in Wales is a piece of prose by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and recorded by Thomas in 1952. Emerging from an earlier piece he wrote for BBC Radio, the work is an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a young boy, portraying a nostalgic and simpler time. It is one of Thomas's most popular works.

Swansea Jazz musician Dave Cottle has composed both new jazz suite to compliment the pieces with a variety of jazz pieces including songs. Dave is the house pianist at Swansea Jazz Club and the organiser of the weekly events at the club for almost 30 years. Dave has played as a sideman with 100s of international Jazz artists and bands over a long career in music. Often seen in the house band at the Ronnie Scotts weekly Jazz jam nights he founded the Swansea International Jazz Festival in 2014.

Born in Maesteg, South Wales, Siân Lloyd (narrator) is the United Kingdom's longest-serving female weather forecaster, having appeared on ITV Weather for 24 years. She started her media career as a researcher for the BBC Wales Today nightly news programme. While in London, she worked with the Met Office on documentaries about the weather. A much-loved television personality, Siân has been on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Total Wipeout and Celebrity First Dates, to name a few.

Griff Harries' (narrator) career has taken him all over the UK, Western Europe and on the Eastern seaboard of North America. He is the founder director of The Chamber Orchestra of Wales and for well over a decade, he oversaw the pantomime seasons at Swansea Grand Theatre. But he is best known for his many years as a broadcaster with Swansea Sound, especially his time hosting The Late Show. You can hear him in Welsh and English on Welsh Coast Radio. As a fluent Welsh speaker, Griff is proud to be a member of the Gorsedd of The Bards at The National Eisteddfod of Wales for his services to music and the arts.

Dave Cottle (Piano & Trumpet)

Griff Harries (Narrator)

Sian Lloyd (Narrator)

Sarah Meek (Vocals)

Dan Newberry (Sax)

Alun Vaughan (Bass)

Gail James (Drums)

Description supplied by the event organiser.