No doubt at all who the man of the moment is this week. Not only does Gwilym Simcock bring his own bands to the CBSO Centre on Friday, but Tuesday night a new composition of his will sit alongside Rodrigo and Kurt Weill.

So, Friday first. I can't really remember the last time a young British jazz musician made quite such a stir.

One minute the name Gwilym Simcock meant nothing to anyone outside Chetham's School of Music and the Royal Academy, the next he was simultaneously the new pianist in Bill Bruford's Earthworks and in bassist Malcolm Creese's Acoustic Triangle.

And a minute after that he was having a piano concerto written for him by Tim Garland, and his solos, as part of the Kenny Wheeler 75th Birthday Band, were getting appreciative smiles from such critical curmudgeons as Lee Konitz.

Despite this apparent shooting-star behaviour, Simcock is not an overnight sensation - not only did he start very young, he has also left it a while before going into the recording studio as leader.

His debut album, Perception, on Basho Records, is now out and garnering the plaudits from all and sundry. It is this music that we will hear on Friday at the CBSO Centre in this Birmingham Jazz gig - that's if he hasn't written a whole bunch of new stuff in the last couple of weeks.

The evening will mix his trio - Phil Donkin on bass and Martin France on drums - with his quintet - add John Parricelli on guitar and Stan Sulzmann on saxophones - and promises some fine Simcock compositions that have near-orchestral depth as well as providing plenty of harmonic meat for the soloists.

And then there is the playing of the man himself. Simcock brings a whole arsenal of technical firepower, borne of a classical training, to bear on a deep love and under-standing of the jazz tradition. Add to that a

manifest delight in the exhilarating high that comes from improvisation, and you have the complete jazz musician.

His solo slots in concert - My One And Only Love from Perception is a prime example - show a mastery which should take a good five decades of playing to achieve, not a mere two.

If you have heard Simcock before, I am sure you will be there on Friday evening; if you haven't then I would urge you to find out what all the fuss is about.

Imagine you had had the chance of hearing the young Keith Jarrett in an intimate venue for little more than a tenner - you'd still be boring the jazz youngsters of today with that story, wouldn't you?

The Gwilym Simcock Trio and Quintet are at the CBSO Centre on Friday from 8pm, tickets are £12 (£9) from 0121 767 4050 or via www.birminghamjazz.co.uk.
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Tomorrow night American pianist and band leader Gil Goldstein leads the Britten Sinfonia through Gil Evans' arrangements of the pieces that gave Miles Davis a broader audience in the 1960s and made classical players and composers prick up their ears.

As well as the obvious second movement from Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, they will play Miles Ahead and Kurt Weill's My Ship. Oh, and that new work by Gwilym Simcock.

A Tribute To Miles Davis is at the Town Hall at 7.30pm, tickets are £5 to £20 (with discounts for the over 60s!) and are available from www.thsh.co.uk or on 0121 780 3333. n If you have any news or views you'd like to share, email me at peterbacon@mac.com The blog is at www.thejazzbreakfast.blogspot.com

OTHER GIGS THIS WEEK
Wednesday: Sugar Beats alto saxophonist Mike Fletcher takes his Quartet into the Rainbow Pub in Digbeth. The band contains big boys Hans Koller on piano and Mark Sanders on drums, though let's not overlook Colin Somervell on bass. Doors open at 8pm and it's a mere £3 on the door.
Friday:: Before the Simcock gig, make sure you rid yourself of those Rush Hour Blues with the fabulous Sara Colman band in the Symphony Hall Foyer Bar. It starts at 5.30pm and it's free.
Trumpeter/singer Abram Wilson tells his New Orleans story from Ferris Wheel to the Modern Day Delta at Lichfield Guildhall at 8pm. Tickets are £12 from 01543 262223.
Sunday: Stratford Jazz has been putting on Sunday gigs at the White Swan for 21 years now and celebrates with three special ones. The first is this weekend when Simon Spillett, tenor saxophonist with the spirit of Tubby Hayes coursing through his veins, leads a band which includes Tony Levin on drums. For advance tickets at £6 call Roy on 01789 298607.