Between them, the members of The Van Morrison Alumni Band have done over 3000 performances and gained over 500 production credits working alongside Van Morrison. Please note we cannot guarantee all the performers below will appear at every event.
MATT HOLLAND
TRUMPET
1,347 Concert appearances with Van
156 Recording credits on Van's albums including:
Geoff Dunn
DRUMS
309 Concert appearances with Van
74 Recording credits on Van's albums including:
Robin Aspland
piano
244 Concert appearances with Van
57 Recording credits on Van's albums including:
Leo green
sax
416 Concert appearances with Van
63 Recording credits on Van's albums including:
steve pearce
bass
20+ Concert appearances with Van
24 Recording credits on Van's albums including:
THE SINGERS
Alongside the talented Van Morrison Alumni, we also have some fabulous lead and backing singers! Please note we cannot guarantee all the vocal artists below will appear at each event.
Wayne hernandez
From Tina Turner and Madonna to Blur and Gorillaz, Wayne Hernandez has provided the vocal soul behind some of the biggest names in music history. After years of touring the globe with legends like Billy Ocean and Kool & The Gang, this world-class vocalist is now bringing his extraordinary pedigree and powerhouse vocals to the stage with the Van Morrison Alumni Band.
jess greenfield
A singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Jess has performed alongside legendary artists including Paul Weller, Rod Stewart, and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Today, she brings her powerhouse vocals to the stage as a lead singer for the Van Morrison Alumni Band.
Hayley sanderson
A singer, saxophonist, and long-time featured vocalist on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, Hayley Sanderson has worked alongside music legends including Sting, Nile Rodgers, Gloria Gaynor and Rick Wakeman. Now, she delivers exceptional lead and backing vocals as part of the Van Morrison Alumni Band.
Q&A
What can you remember about the first time you worked with Van Morrison?
Matt Holland:
"I’ll never forget, after getting the call to do the job, I was in Central London and thought I would pop into Tower Records and pick up his album.
I knew he’d written a couple of wonderful songs, but was unaware of how prolific he was and walked in, expecting a few albums - and was met by an entire section of the shop, dedicated to Van’s albums!
I sheepishly left, concerned how I was going to learn what seemed to be dozens of albums. The next day a courier arrived from Van’s office with a huge box of 50 albums – the task of immersing myself into hundreds and hundreds of songs began.
To this day, I absolutely love receiving the albums Van sends over with his new songs – it’s a never ending journey into one of the greatest song catalogues of all time and I find playing these songs live, is nothing short of joyous."
Robin Aspland:
"I first met Van at a rehearsal at The Bulls Head in Barnes. We sat and talked about his ideas for his jazz album, "How Long Has This Been Going On?". It was a fascinating conversation, about great songs and how he wanted us to record, live at Ronnie Scott’s Club during the day with no audience - it proved to be an amazing recording session that produced some of my favourite recorded moments with Van - It was great to play those tunes and arrangements with Van and of course, the great Georgie Fame on Hammond.
Not long after that, I did my first concert with him, at the Royal Festival Hall, where we played some of the tunes we had recorded at Ronnie's, along with some of Van’s more well known tunes - it was such a memorable night for me, aside from finding myself at the Royal Festival playing an amazing jazz concert with Van, the great jazz saxophonist James Moody sat in with us, duetting with Van on ‘Moody’s Mood’.
I'll never forget, that after the concert, myself, Alec Dankworth and Ralph Salmins jumped in a cab and went to play at Ronnie’s with the Dankworth Generation Band - relieved I had made it in time, a couple of numbers in, I looked up and I saw Van, in the audience, listening attentively to more jazz!"
What can you remember about the first time you worked with Van Morrison?
Matt Holland:
"I’ll never forget, after getting the call to do the job, I was in Central London and thought I would pop into Tower Records and pick up his album.
I knew he’d written a couple of wonderful songs, but was unaware of how prolific he was and walked in, expecting a few albums - and was met by an entire section of the shop, dedicated to Van’s albums!
I sheepishly left, concerned how I was going to learn what seemed to be dozens of albums. The next day a courier arrived from Van’s office with a huge box of 50 albums – the task of immersing myself into hundreds and hundreds of songs began.
To this day, I absolutely love receiving the albums Van sends over with his new songs – it’s a never ending journey into one of the greatest song catalogues of all time and I find playing these songs live, is nothing short of joyous."
Robin Aspland:
"I first met Van at a rehearsal at The Bulls Head in Barnes. We sat and talked about his ideas for his jazz album, "How Long Has This Been Going On?". It was a fascinating conversation, about great songs and how he wanted us to record, live at Ronnie Scott’s Club during the day with no audience - it proved to be an amazing recording session that produced some of my favourite recorded moments with Van - It was great to play those tunes and arrangements with Van and of course, the great Georgie Fame on Hammond.
Not long after that, I did my first concert with him, at the Royal Festival Hall, where we played some of the tunes we had recorded at Ronnie's, along with some of Van’s more well known tunes - it was such a memorable night for me, aside from finding myself at the Royal Festival playing an amazing jazz concert with Van, the great jazz saxophonist James Moody sat in with us, duetting with Van on ‘Moody’s Mood’.
I'll never forget, that after the concert, myself, Alec Dankworth and Ralph Salmins jumped in a cab and went to play at Ronnie’s with the Dankworth Generation Band - relieved I had made it in time, a couple of numbers in, I looked up and I saw Van, in the audience, listening attentively to more jazz!"
Is there a live show that stands out in your memory?
Matt Holland:
There’s actually a week that stands out for me and it sums up so much about the accessibility and range of Van’s music and how it connects to so many different people of so many different levels.
In one week, we went from an incredibly exciting, sell-out crowd at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden, where Van knew exactly how to ‘read the room’ - he served up hit after hit after hit, it was mind blowing. And then later that week, we found ourselves back in the U.K, at the famous Hay literary festival, in a small tent that held no more than 300 people. Once again Van read the crowd perfectly and drew from deep within his catalogue, pulling out songs that we hadn’t done for a while. He delivered a completely different concert performance. I guess it was more akin to a highly charged spiritual experience in a church, with Van at the front, leading the congregation through a musical and poetic journey of inspirational soulfulness that stayed with me for years and years – I’ll never forget that week with him".
Robin Aspland:
So many of the shows with Van have left indelible musical memories - playing the music with Van on an idyllic summer evening at the Hollywood Bowl was so special; the legendary New York Supper Club gigs, where on some nights Van would be on stage for almost 4 hours without a break. Shows at The Royal Albert Hall, Montreux Jazz Festival, an outdoor gig in Memphis, looking down the winding river on a beautiful summer evening, drawing inspiration for some of Van’s ethereal music, the list goes on - I feel very lucky.
Is there a recording date that stands out in your memory?
Matt Holland:
I feel so privileged to have spent so many incredible days in the studio with Van - the joy of his recording process, is that more often than not, it's a recording of a performance, as opposed to an overall concept.
It's all about the song and the message or story that Van is conveying – the best way to achieve that is through trying to get a great live performance in the studio and when he's able to capture that lighting in a bottle moment, when we're all grooving as one, in a studio environment, it's an incredible and electrifying experience.
Robin Aspland:
I'll never forget "The Healing Game" date with the whole band recording live in one room - Van, Georgie Fame on Hammond organ, plus all of us on Piano, Guitars, Double Bass, Electric Bass, Drums, Percussion, with Leo, Matt and Pee Wee on horns and Brian Kennedy on backing vocals!
There were other times I remember, where rehearsals would morph into the most incredible legendary recordings.