Jazz & Jazz

Wales-based FiddleBop plays Gypsy Jazz updated!
On violin, Spanish guitar, keyboard, and fretless bass.
“And we sing too, with four voices in harmony.“

FiddleBop’s jazz is sophisticated yet never pretentious or stuffy. It’s danceable but not rhythmically bland. Has plenty of improvised solos
but is tuneful and melodic.

We play jazz that’s drawn from all of the genres’ century-long history. Look forward to our unique beggars-in-velvet treatment of get-up-and-dance jazz from the 1920s (when “jazz was king”), 1930s chilli-hot swing, and bop and cool post-bop. Also jazz-flavoured classic pop, some folk-jazz, as well as our very own creations. All with Gypsy zing and passion!

Gypsy Jazz-Zing: Updated

Yes, FiddleBop plays Gypsy jazz – which was jointly created by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris — updated for the 2020s.

And the “jazz-zing” bit? That’s the pizzazz and excitement that comes from loving what we play! And from being (ahem!) pretty good musicians.

All of which is why – please excuse us, we’re about to blow our own trumpet (and mix our own metaphors) – audiences love FiddleBop’s unique gypsy-tinged flavour of jazz music. Music which can be sweet, chilled, yet even mysterious at times. Such as:

• our delicate instrumental explorations of the great John Coltrane’s exquisite “Naima”
• our bluesy takes of Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” and “Well, You Needn’t”
• classic cool jazz by Miles Davis. “So What”!
• FiddleBop’s nostalgic close-harmony vocals in Paul McCartney’s “Here, There, and Everywhere” and Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek”
• jazz-favoured folk tunes including “O Give Me Your Hand” written c. 1603 by harpist Ruairdi Dáll Ó Catháin
• Jo’s poetic late-night-smoky-bar “Thirteen-and-a-half Days In The Desert”, and Paul’s sea-soliloquy “Sailing All Alone”.

Also music which, with its roots in the fiery Gypsy jazz tradition, is hot unto cooking. FiddleBop will get your feet stomping and your heart thumping (in a good way, of course) during:

• “The Charleston” from the early days of jazz;
• Traditional Gypsy jazz tunes: “Minor Swing” “Dark Eyes”, and the more modern “Swing Gitan”;
• Gypsy jazz staples such as “Dinah”, “Bei Mir Bistdu Shein”, and “Sweet Georgia Brown”;
• Irish reel “Drowsy Maggie” and East European rouser “Odessa Bulgar”;
• Duke Ellington’s classic “It Don’t Mean a Thing”;
• the John Coltrane Quartet’s interpretation of “My Favourite Things”;
• FiddleBop’s very own searing take on Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia”. Yaaay!

FiddleBop is:

• Joanna Davies (Spanish guitar and vocals)
• Dave Favis-Mortlock (violin, flute and vocals)
• Paul Stevens (keyboard and vocals)
• Graeme Lamble (fretless bass guitar and vocals)

So how about having FiddleBop liven up your next event or party with some “Gypsy jazzing: updated”? We’re friendly, we don’t bite, and we cost less than you might think.

Why not check us out? Simply email us or phone us (01982 560726 / 07968 950870) for a quote.