Steamboat Jazz Band sail into port for another great gig at
Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle Jazz Club

Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle on Facebook 

From the Festival Website

Keswick Jazz Festival is the UK’s largest and most popular celebration of traditional, New Orleans, swing and mainstream jazz.

Fabulous international guests and top UK talent in this large and warm-hearted gathering of people who all love to listen and dance to the great music that the Keswick Jazz Festival is renowned for.

Over 90 inspiring performances in this four day feast of jazz, with a further four days of concerts in Theatre By The Lake preceding the main festival.

Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band

Music from days of jazz when it began – Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and from the glory days of traditional jazz in the UK, to the fat and hip-swinging music of the New Orleans brass bands and Cajun style bands, also the jumping sounds of the jive bands, intimate  gipsy jazz, powerful and inspiring vocalists, hot pianists, cool saxophones, trumpets, trombones, banjos, clarinets… the list goes on.
A dance floor will be laid in at least one venue where the bands will play for dancing, and dance tutors will run classes in the morning for beginners and intermediates.

There will also be interesting jazz talks, jam sessions, guest sessions, a parade though the town, jazz services, music in local pubs and cafes as well as concerts in large and small venues in and around the town.

All set in the beautiful surroundings of Keswick, in the heart of the Lake District.

Visit Keswick Jazz Festival Website for Full Three Day Programme

Roy Williams

Graham Hughes

Book Tickets!

Joan, Eva and Andrea

Ginny and I have booked early for Fest Jazz, Châteauneuf-du-Faou, Brittany, this year. Festival Organiser, Trevor Stent, guarantees a great line up which will shortly be featured on Jazz&Jazz.

Fans will be thrilled to know that Joan Chamorro’s young stars in his Barcelona based Sant Andreu Jazz Band will be returning for the festival this year. Here is a taster from one of their show stopping performances at Fest Jazz 2014.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

With Special Guest Vasilis Xenopoulos

Vasilis Xenopoulos (Photo by Miyuki Tanaka‎}

Book for Tad Newton’s JazzFriends: Friday, 12th February 8.00pm.

Book for The Savannah Jazz Band: Saturday, 13th February, 12.30pm

Book for DixieMiz Jazz Band: Saturday, 13th February 8.00pm

Book for Mysto’s Hot Lips: Sunday, 14th February, 12.30pm

Get Your Jazzin’ Boots on!

Contact Tad Newton for further details:
email – [email protected]
tel – 01604 858549
Web: www.tadnewtonsjazzfriends.com

Hi Everyone!

As most of you will know, we are having a few months off of our regular events. This is because we are very busy organising this year’s ‘Conscia Jazz Presents: The Bedford Jazz Festival 2016’, and I am very pleased to announce this today.

Above is confirmation of our ‘Main Stage’ acts and our Headline acts for this year’s festival! I feel very lucky to have these musicians coming to Bedford to perform, and I cannot wait for the weekend of March 19th to come around. I am also pleased to let you know, that tickets are on sale now for the ‘Main Stage’ at www.conscia.org.

As well as selling tickets for each individual event, we also have ‘Main Stage Passes’. These allow you to go to all four events on the ‘Main Stage’ on that given day with just one ticket; at just £29 for adults, and £21 for students! Tickets will be on sale soon for our headline acts so keep your eyes peeled for more act confirmations over the coming days/weeks, including at other venues!

We really hope to see you there on the weekend of March 19th, and please tell your friends about what is going on. It is a very exciting time for us and we would love to share it with you!

Many thanks

Tom Syson

Managing Director of Conscia Jazz

conscia.org

Phall Fatale at Jazz Festival Willisau

Berlin based publicity man, Lukasz Polowczyk recently asked if I would be prepared to feature Phall Fatale, an innovative group, on Jazz&Jazz.

Initially I thought not but later changed my mind. These days I’m discovering some items posted on my Facebook Jazzers Group are stretching the boundaries of jazz to one degree or another. Should it be up to me to give a steer on this?

Lukasz’ agency is called Initials IP

So why not use Phall Fatale as a test case (i) to assess just how far the boundaries can be stretched, especially on this website and (ii) to help give Lukasz a steer on how and where best to promote his group.

Here are two YouTubes of Phall Fatale’s music and I would welcome readers’ opinions.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

Ron Finden, John Picket and Christine Woodcock

BOOK NOW!

Tel: Brian Smith (“Smiffy”) on 01707 880569

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: Lemsford Jazz Club

Ron Findon Plays “Summertime” – an extra special Lemsford Jazz Club treat!

 Don’t miss Sam Hall’s Jazz Revisited
Sunday 6th March, 1.00 – 4.00pm

(Photos & YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Alan Bates (vocals, rhythm guitar), Neil Kane (snare), Hannah Bales (vocals, saddle drum), Tim Moore (tuba), Steve Cant (trumpet), Pauline Goffin (saxophone), Barry Langston (trombone)

“Myself, our snare drum man and our singer and bass drum lady took ourselfs off to NOLA last April for the French Quarter Festival. Tuba Skinny and Smokin’ Hot Jazz knew us already. One of our friends had taken our CD to Shaye Cohn the year before. ‘So’, said Erica. ‘You’re the guy’ and Shaye smiled at me and said ‘the music is everybodies, lets keep on sharing’… I still haven’t recovered!”

With these words, Alan Bates introduced himself to me and to Jazz&Jazz. And with credentials such as these I simply couldn’t resist featuring the UK’s very own “Tuba Clone” for Jazz&Jazz followers!

So Jazz Fans everywhere, let me introduce the UK’s  “Tuba Swingy”! And what better way than one of their Tuba Skinny style YouTubes.

Hannah and Erica on the hallowed streets of NO

Robin Rapuzzi and Neil Kane – jazz buddies!

Alan with Shaye. OK, Alan, are Tuba Swingy street wise?

Tuba Swingy UK Street Style:

For more of their YouTubes just search for Tuba Swingy on YouTube

More about Tuba Swingy and their New Orleans Adventures

Members of a Suffolk-based band have made a pilgrimage to New Orleans to meet musicians who inspired their style of jazz – and their band’s name.

The popular Tuba Swingy band from Lowestoft was formed nearly three years ago after leader Alan Bates saw YouTube videos of American counterparts Tuba Skinny. And just like the busking Louisiana band has found fame in New Orleans and around the world, Tuba Swingy is attracting a growing legion of fans by playing similar jazz and blues tunes in town centres around coastal Suffolk. The busking has led to appearance at Aldeburgh festival, Southwold arts festival, Somerleyton Hall and in pubs, at weddings and even at a funeral in Lowestoft.

Leader Alan said: “We became hooked on the music of Tuba Skinny and three of us decided we had to make the 8,000 miles round-trip to see them playing live.

“Our worlds collided in Royal Street, New Orleans, one of the best places to see busking bands and it was brilliant!

“It was a glorious hot and sunny Friday morning when we first saw Shaye Cohn, the cornet, piano and violin-playing leader of Tuba Skinny, sitting on the pavement playing violin while waiting for the rest of the band to arrive for a regular busking session. When I introduced myself she gave me a big smile and said she was pleased to meet me. She had seen Tuba Swingy videos on YouTube in the same way we had seen Tuba Skinny’s. We had a great chat and she had some very kind words to say about us playing the same sort of jazz and blues numbers, remarking that the music was for all to share.”

Neil Kane, Tuba Swingy’s percussionist, had a long chat with Tuba Skinny’s washboard player Robin Rapuzzi who told him: “You guys have done us all good. Here in New Orleans and over there in England, we share the same vibe.” Neil was so impressed with hearing the Tuba Skinny sound live for the first time we went off to a music shop and bought himself a washboard!

Hannah Bales, Tuba Swingy’s vocalist and bass drummer, also agreed that listening live to Tuba Swingy was ‘amazing’. She quietly sang along with some of the numbers as she, her husband Kris, Alan and Neil sat on the kerbside for nearly three hours watching Tuba Skinny go through their paces.

“We were so excited before setting out for the States but Tuba Skinny and New Orleans have been much, much more than we ever dreamed of. They are an awesome band. New Orleans is a brilliant city.”

Hannah received a hug from her counterpart, Erika Lewis, as they chatted about vocal numbers that both bands play. Hannah also told Erika that seeing Tuba Skinny playing live had been a great inspiration and given her ideas for numbers that Tuba Swingy could add to their repertoire.

After chatting with other members of Tuba Skinny, Alan finally introduced himself to Erika, who runs the band’s internet and social media links and became aware of Tuba Swingy a few years ago.

Alan said: “She looked me up and down and lifted her hat, gave me a big grin and said “So you’re the guy!” It was a magic moment and something I will always remember. We all got on really well and we plan to keep in touch by email and social media.”

The members of Tuba Swingy watched two other gigs by their heroes during their six-day stay in New Orleans and also saw many other bands, including two other favourites, Shotgun Jazz Band and Smoking Time Jazz Club, who were keen to chat with the East Anglian musicians.

The Final Word
Thank you Tuba Swingy and Tuba Skinny for making this great Jazz&Jazz post possible. Quite frankly it wouldn’t be right to conclude without a Jazz&Jazz YouTube of Tuba Skinny. Here they are playing in the town square at Chateauneuf-du-Faou during FestJazz, 2014. Even the church bells waited for them to finish their number! I counted it a privilege to film them.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & YouTubes courtesy of Tuba Swingy and also © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

100 Club

★★★ 9th February.  Doors 7 30.  Show 8 30 ★★★

★★★  BOOK HERE★★★

100 Club, 100 Oxford St, London W1D 1LL   020 7636 0933

The Loft

★★★ 5th February.  Doors 8 30.  Show 9.00 ★★★

★★★  BOOK HERE★★★

The Loft, Toulouse Lautrec, 140 Newington Butts, SE11 4RN

dompipkin.co.uk