"...showing a terrific variety of approaches that joins the dots between current developments, Maiden Voyage-era Herbie Hancock and even prog rock." - Jazz UK

"...a fusion of ferocity, free expression but most of all a great feeling for experimental music...One moment you can be listening to a tender embrace and then be transported into a flurrying frenzy culminating in a musical mastermind and this can happen just within one track." - Leeds Guide

"...a distinctive group sound and identity...ACV are looking for something altogether darker and more organic and they succeed brilliantly." - Ian Mann (thejazzman.com)

"...there's much to enjoy in the nicely varied approaches that the band employs collectively, from What's For Breakfast's cunning balance of hectic improvisation and strict discipline to Dust Red's relaxed, implied Latin feel to Fail In Wood's determinedly tough tunefulness, and in their individual skills." - Herald Scotland

"...Champion exemplifies his breadth of bass playing techniques, nevertheless allowing freedom amongst all of the musicians, yet always ensuring a tight ensemble. It is evident that the members of ACV are top-class musicians and despite varying in musical backgrounds they come together as one...Altogether Completely Virtuosic." - Plush Magazine

Bassist Andy Champion launched his quintet ACV in 2009, to play compositions reflecting his wide musical interests, drawing on influences as diverse as prog rock and free improvisation, but with jazz always at the heart. The result is a distinctive band sound and identity, where tight arrangements are peppered with insistent, rhythmic unison passages and ferocity but also with more introspective moments, always melodic and direct.

ACV have performed at prestigious festivals and venues across the UK, including the Gateshead International Jazz Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival and the Vortex Jazz Club. In Autumn 2011 they completed an acclaimed Jazz Services national tour. They have also been featured on BBC Radio's Jazz On 3, UK Jazz Radio and Sine FM.

In March 2010, ACV released their debut album, "Fail In Wood", on the Jazzaction label.

The band have just recorded their second album produced by Chris Sharkey (Trio VD/Acoustic Ladyland). Stay tuned for nerws on it's release.

	Andy Champion graduated from Newcastle College in 1998 and has since worked as a bassist and drummer, playing various styles of music throughout the UK and Europe. After taking up double bass in 2003 he became heavily involved in the North East jazz and improvised music scene, performing with top names such as Bob Mintzer, Jim Mullen, Tim Garland and Andy Sheppard. As an improviser, he has played alongside Marc Ducret, Marilyn Crispell, Matt Maneri and Eugene Chadbourne, and was invited to perform at the On The Outside Festival in 2008 and 2009. In addition to touring extensively across the UK with his own quintet ACV, he also performs with jazz vocalist Zoe Gilby, and has become a respected name on the national scene.
	Graeme Wilson has been based in Tyneside since 2005, and appears regularly with John Warren's Splinter Group, Ruth Lambert, Saxophonics and Paul Edis Sextet, and has performed at the 2008 and 2009 On The Outside Festivals. As a founding member of both the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, he has recorded and collaborated with Fred Frith, Evan Parker, Barry Guy and George Lewis amongst others. He has composed extensively for saxophone quartet, including the suite Harbour Associations commissioned by An Tobar Arts Centre on the Isle of Mull, released two albums with improvising saxophone quartet Rich In Knuckles and has collaborated with visual artists Cath Keay and Gair Dunlop. His research with Professor Raymond MacDonald at Glasgow Caledonian University on the psychology of improvising is published in Psychology of Music, Musicae Scientiae, and the books Musical Communication (OUP) and Musical Imaginations (OUP, forthcoming).
	Mark Williams hails from Belfast and moved to the North East of England in 2000 to study Jazz, Popular and Commercial Music at Newcastle College. Since then he has become one of the most in demand guitarists on the regional jazz scene and works throughout the UK with various ensembles, including his own trio, The Zoe Gilby Quintet, and John Warren's Splinter Group.
	Paul Edis is a familiar figure on the North East Jazz scene, and has played alongside some of the top artists working in the UK today, including Tim Garland, Julian Siegel and Tony Kofi. He has performed at numerous festivals including Scarborough Jazz Festival, Marsden Jazz Festival and Gateshead International Jazz Festival, and at the Vortex and 100 Club in London. In addition to a flourishing jazz career, Paul has given classical recitals, played for numerous shows and recordings and is in great demand as a sight-reader and accompanist. As  tutor he works across the region, giving workshops, one-to-one tuition and working with undergraduates at Durham University and the University of York.
	Adrian Tilbrook is a former pupil of percussion guru Max Abrams. In 1974 he replaced Tony Hicks in the blues-influenced rock trio Back Door and toured extensively in Germany and the UK in the 70's with British blues giant Alexis Korner. Tilbrook formed Full Circle with Trombonist Rick Taylor in 1984 and has throughout his freelance career played with many US musicians, including Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Al Grey, James Moody, Jimmy Witherspoon, Kenny Burrell, Scott Hamilton and Art Farmer, as well as British artists Ian Carr, Allan Holdsworth, Don Weller, Jack Bruce and Stan Tracey.