Saxophonist Larry Stabbins retired from playing but recently has taken up the horn again and, revitalised, has returned to touring with these master improvisors - percussionist Mark Sanders and bassist Paul Rogers - SAROST, captured here live in scintillating form.

Larry Stabbins played with European jazz royalty in the 1970s (Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Keith Tippett, Mike Westbrook, Peter Brotzmann and many others). He also played with cult pop group Weekend and started writing with the late Simon Booth. Weekend became Working Week, a band that took a mix of Latin, soul, jazz and funk into the pop charts with vocals by Juliet Roberts, Julie Tippetts, Robert Wyatt and Tracy Thorn.

The tracks on The Granite Variations are the first and second sets of the second night of a six day tour of the South of England, at Fringe Jazz at The Bristol Music Club in Bristol. Promoted for many years by the legendary and indefatigable Jon Taylor who wrote of the show the next day - "There's good and then there's OFF THE SCALE bloody marvellous."

Recorded by Richard Pearson at Fringe Jazz at The Bristol Music Club on the 10th December 2025

Mark Sanders: percussion

Paul Rogers: 7-string bass

Larry Stabbins: alto saxophone, G (Sol) clarinet

Mixed by Larry Stabbins