Few can dispute Wayne Shorter's status as one of the most important jazz musicians alive.

It's now almost 50 years since he got his first big concert, playing saxophone with pianist Horace Silver.

Since then he has established a CV that reads like a who's who of jazz in the latter half of the 20th Century.

After he left Silver's band, Shorter played with Maynard Ferguson before a stint in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

In 1964 he joined Miles Davis' ground-breaking second quintet, where he excelled not only as an instrumentalist but also as a composer.

He wrote classics such as ESP, Nefertiti and Prince of Darkness.

By the end of the decade Davis had abandoned the quintet's acoustic post-bop in favour of electric jazz-rock fusion.

In this direction, Shorter also played a major role, appearing on such hugely influential albums as In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

Shorter's most high-profile role began in 1970 when he left Davis' band and co-founded fusion group Weather Report with keyboard player Joe Zawinul.

The band achieved phenomenal artistic and commercial success with albums such as Black Market and Heavy Weather (thanks in no small part to electric bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorious).

Again, in Mysterious Traveller, Palladium and Harlequin, Shorter composed some of their best tracks.

Internal tensions caused the band to fold in 1985 and Shorter failed to live up to his earlier standards in the following years.

It wasn't that he couldn't work solo (he had recorded a number of excellent solo albums pre-Weather Report, as well as the excellent Native Dancer while with the band) but it just seemed his best years were behind him.

Yet he proved everyone wrong with last year's release of Footsteps Live.

Featuring top young talent such as pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, it was voted album of the year in Jazzwise magazine.

Shorter is now touring to promote the follow-up album, Alegria.

It features the same line-up and, although it doesn't quite live up to the material he was producing a few decades ago, it nevertheless represents a magnificent return to form.

The four-time Grammy winner turns 70 later this year and there may not be many more chances to see this legend on tour in the future.

Catch him while you can. The show starts at 8pm.

Tickets range from £10 to £16.50. Call 01273 709709 for further details and ticket information.