Nerja's regular jazz night to feature British drummer and his quartet

Granada-based British drummer Stik Cook and his jazz quartet are performing with Nerja's Ventana Abierta at Hotel Plaza Cavana this Friday 22 November.

The quartet will mainly perform jazz standards, often inspired by the style of legendary hard-bop trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, "which will serve as a framework for improvisation", Stik told SUR in English.

While Stik says all the music will sound familiar to the audience, there will also be some original compositions and the Peruvian influence of guitarist Pierre Huarniz, "ensuring that the evening will undoubtedly be a memorable musical experience".

Stik, 63, is originally from Yorkshire and comes from a musical family. His grandfather made a living from selling pianos in the early 20th century and his father, now 89, still plays the piano having also always performed with jazz bands.

Stik says it was definitely the influence of his forebearers which encouraged him to literally pick up the baton and his dad sat him behind a drum set as a small boy.

The musician has been in Spain for around 20 years and has combined playing in jazz bands with his work as an osteopath in Ronda, where he has built up a loyal base of mainly Spanish and some foreign clients.

While living in Cadiz he performed at the American military base in Rota, where he says, the soldiers based there "want American music". So "local Spanish musicians learnt to play American Jazz, Big Band..."

Stik plays at the jazz club in Ronda and is very involved with the relatively-recently established Ool Ya Koo jazz club in Granada (named after the response that Dizzy Gillespie gave when someone asked him what bebop was, explains Stik), which is where he formed the quartet.

Trumpeter Dani Cano is from Granada but spent over 10 years in London before returning to his native city. Double bassist José Luis Lopretti is from Uruguay and spent many years in Amsterdam before moving to Granada. Pierre Huarniz also heard of the growing jazz scene in Granada and moved to the city, Stik explains. Tonight's concert starts at 8pm and booking is recommended.