Tag: jazz

Recommendations for when Swindon gets Shuffling

Swindon’s annual colossal fundraising event The Shuffle is a testament to local live music, which raises funds for Prospect Hospice. If you’re ever going to spend a weekend in Swindon, believe me, the 11th-14th September is the oneโ€ฆ..

An entirely free stroller festival centred in Old Town; saunter the eight venues at your leisure and discover a wealth of talent, mostly ฤบocally sourced. Pop some cash in the buckets and help raise some funds as Old Town comes alive with the sound of music!

As usual I’m going to be the judge and jury for this piece, and recommend those who I personally know who will deliver great sets to amaze you. But in no way is it an exhaustive list, for there will be many others and sometimes you have to put your little toe into the waters and find acts unbeknown to you, for the surprise element; an event of exploration! Whatever you do discover you can rest assured, every act is cherrypicked by the Shuffle Team, of Ed Dyer, a promoter who knows his stuff, Jamie Hill of Swindon Link, Kelly Adams, Paul โ€˜Pajโ€™ Jellings, Avril Jellings, Linda Gulliford, and Paul Gemmill, all equally as aware of what makes Wiltshire rock.

Thereโ€™s a printed program, online too; I’m working off that. Given the fantasy scenario of having the whole weekend to attend and choose between the huge lineup, hereโ€™s how I would tackle the mammoth task of maximising my experience…….

Without further ado, then, Thursday 11th of September belongs to The Tuppenny on Devizes Road, and the Hop, literally a hop across the road. A clash already, 7:15 at the Hop, Bathโ€™s spacey indie outfit Aqaba kick off proceedings, while Swindon soul singer Chloe Hepburn is at the Tuppenny at half past; tricky disco to begin, but Chloe has been on my must-see list for a while!

8pm at the Hop, Sebastain and Me is a deffo, but youโ€™ve only a quarter of an hour to drink up and catch the amazing Joli Soul at the Tuppenny. Again, I would be wearing out the traffic lights or flipping a coin. Iโ€™m unaware of all the headliners from there at both fantastic venues, yet the Tuppeny seems more funky soul and jazz while the Hop is indie, so it would be whether I packed my jazz hat or not!

Friday 12th September again is at The Hop, The Vic aptly on Victoria Road, and the Castle on Prospect Hill. Easy picking to begin with, itโ€™s our favourite Marlboroughโ€™s goth duo Deadlight Dance, on at 7:15 at the Castle.

In fact, Iโ€™d feel inclined to stay at the Castle unless Iโ€™m feeling like Dora the Explorer (which is surprisingly common for me!) as after a new one on me, Loophole, the amazing mod/new wave/britop cover band, whoโ€™ve just begun recording originals, Static Moves is on at 8:45, followed by Black Hats, new to me but promising something skanking, and SN Dubstation, who as the name suggest is Swindonโ€™s premier contemporary reggae export. The Hop is mostly folk on Friday, the Vic is indie-punk-rock and the Castle is alternative and reggae. If I was to fancy venturing off to The Vic, it would be at 10pm for Viduals, an emerging indie rock band who play it hard!

Saturday 13th then, when reality checks in, for this is the only day Iโ€™m likely to be able to make it up to Swindon for realz! You can get a bus from Devizes, you know, they run late now!

All guns blazing, The Tuppenny and the Pulpit rule the daytime, from 2pm until dinnertime, and The Hop, The Castle and the Beehive on Prospect Hill take the evening shift.

The great Jim Blair starts at the Pulpit, a new venue to me, but hey, Chippenham singer-songwriter Harmony Asia plays at 3:15 and thatโ€™s simply unmissable in my honest opinion. Oh but oh, Iโ€™ve heard so much good stuff about Swindonโ€™s pop star Kate X, who is on at The Tuppenny at 3:30, and seriously recommend her too!

Shedric and David Corringan at the Pulpit are two Iโ€™d love to see, and Swindonโ€™s answer to Dylan, the incredible Jol Rose is a must-see at 5:30, but dammit, at the Tuppenny has Emma Doupe at 5pm, followed by the freshest indie-pop fellow I simply must touch base with, Weather at 5:45pm. Ed Dyer, what are you putting me through here, or has Swindon got free cloning booths on every street corner now? Weโ€™re a little behind the times in Devizes!!

Saturday evening, and right, and Iโ€™ve made my mind up about how to attack this, though itโ€™s always subject to change. Bit of cheese, sir? At the Castle from 7:15 with Calneโ€™s comedy rock band The Real Cheesemakers is tempting, Gromit, but thereโ€™s a young Melksham band called Between the Lines on at 7pm at The Hop. I cannot lie, these winners of Take the Stage I wanted to play the Music Awards, for while they weren’t nominated, they should have been and I wanted folk to know why. Iโ€™m heading that way and will report on my findings, hopefully bring them to Devizes by hook or by crook!

The Hop continues with lots worth exploring, Iโ€™ve heard particularly good electronica things about The Crystal Wolf Project, there at 9:15, and Iโ€™ve seen headliners Trunk who will ram the place with devoted fans. But look, The Beehive might be my final Saturday resting place. Dulcet Tones at 8pm, then Bristolโ€™s Hannah-Rose Platt; look, just read my album review HERE and youโ€™ll understand this is without doubt a must. And, double-whammy, she is preceded by one of my all time favourite Swindon bands ever, the dark twisted country of Concrete Prairie. Always a must, especially at the Beehive at 9:30pm; save me a quarter of an inch to squeeze into, somewhere near the Tardis.

After that Iโ€™m anyoneโ€™s cheap date! Maybe Iโ€™d check out the Castle, as itโ€™s downhill and looking like hard rock underfoot with Lucky Number Seven coming the most personally recommended, at 9:30pm and followed by Modern Evils.

Then thereโ€™s Sunday 14th September, doesnโ€™t Swindon Shuffle know when to stop?! Wowzers it gets better; The Pulpit, Tuppenny and Beehive are up for your attention. Daytime, 1pm at the Tuppeny for Plummie Racket, stay there for Sienna Wileman and youโ€™ll be glad you did. But pop across to the Pulpit for 2:15 where Devizes is represented by our most excellent blues crooner and kazoo blasting JP Oldfield. I love this guy; Devizes man-hug!

Itโ€™s a Chippenham takeover from then at The Pulpit, Mexican Dave Iโ€™d recommend at 3pm, but M3G is a must and one of my personal favourite singer-songwriters on the local scene right now. Just prior to M3G though, be very tempted to nip back to the Tuppenny at 3:15 when Richard Wileman and Amy Fry do their thing, and thatโ€™s worth its weight in gold. 

Across to the Beehive for the finale to what looks like another unforgettable Shuffle, 6pm, Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army is unmissable, and so too is Joe Kelly & the Royal Pharmacy at 7:30pm.

No forgoing the fringe events, a Shuffle quiz night at the Beehive on Wednesday 10th, the Shuffle Community Ceilidh with The Cowshed Ceilidh Collective Saturday night at Eastcott Community Centre from 7pm, and open vinyl DJ sessions at The Prospect Hospice Book & Music Shop on Victoria Road, each day midday till 4pm.

Then, youโ€™ve only got to wait until the end of January for the Shuffleโ€™s winter version Swinterfest! Swindon Shuffle is a whoโ€™s who of local music, a convention and an institution, a fundraiser like no other, and you wonโ€™t even have to navigate the Magic Roundabout, pinky promise!

Info about Swindon Shuffle and full line-up HERE

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Wiltshire Music Centre Announces First New Season Under New Leadership

Wiltshire Music announces a new season for Autumn Winter: and the first under the new leadership of Daniel Clark, Artistic Director and Sarah Robertson, Executive Directorโ€ฆ.

Since first opening in 1997, Wiltshire Music Centre has been a musical hub, bringing the best in live performances to the area as well as providing a home for local orchestras, choirs and music groups. The upcoming season will feature returning WMC favourites while also spotlighting exciting new artists and expanding the programme, signalling a fresh direction and commitment to musical discovery.

Audiences can look forward to internationally recognised artists including a first visit to WMC by Kingโ€™s Place resident ensemble and Southbank Resident Orchestra,โ€ฏAurora Orchestra (21 Nov) a rare UK appearance by the phenomenal Bill Frisell Trio (22 Nov), classical season opener by Roderick Williams, one of the UKโ€™s most sought after baritones, alongside theโ€ฏCarducci Quartet, (28 Sep) and experimental folk singer-poet Richard Dawson (9 Nov), among others.

Other classical season highlights include celebrated Baroque violinistโ€ฏRachel Podgerโ€ฏperforming withโ€ฏBrecon Baroqueโ€ฏ(8 Oct) and returns to the WMC stage by virtuosic pianist,โ€ฏJeneba Kanneh-Masonโ€ฏ(Sun 26 Oct) andโ€ฏI Fagiolini, who bring their musical storytelling back to the stage with leading local choir, Bath Camerata (13 Dec).โ€ฏThe Young Artist Programme supporting the brightest young stars is back with Classic FM 2024 Rising Star and violinist Nathan Amaral (17 Dec) and Syrian-British pianist, Riyad Nicolas (12 Nov), exploring piano works from Bach, Beethoven and the Arab World.

A season of sensational jazz kicks off with Giacomo Smith and an all-star line-up celebrating 100 years of Louis Armstrong (27 Sep), a tribute to Nina Simone by Lady Nade, contemporary jazz and inventive improv from Danish Jazz Awards winners Jasper Hoibyโ€™s 3Elements, and much more.โ€ฏ

Alongside traditional folk offerings of Gypsy, folk inspired music by Budapest Cafe Orchestra (15 Nov) and โ€œworld-folkโ€ by Dallahan (31 Oct), the line-up also features contemporary sounds, including spellbinding Welsh triple harpist and vocalist Cerys Hafana (18 Oct), the critically acclaimed duo The Breath (2 Nov), and London folktronica band Tunng (19 Nov). 

Families can look forward to CBeebies Musical superhero and Podcast host, Nick Cope and his festive themed show (7 Dec) while earlier in the year, thereโ€™s a Halloween special for all the family with The Paper Cinema (1 Nov) and their immersive puppetry and visuals.

Referring to the Centreโ€™s rich history, Daniel Clark says โ€œWith these concerts, we have aimed to honour the spirit of musical curiosity so present in those early days, with a diverse programme spanning past, present and future. In our next season, you will find a collection of extraordinary musical experiences, handpicked for our wonderful auditorium and marking the start of our own journeys as stewards of this special venue.โ€ 

Daniel Clark joined in January this year, alongside Sarah Robertson. Sarah was previously Director of Communications and Special Projects at Bristol Beacon, leading the marketing and rebranding of the venueโ€™s ยฃ132 million transformation. Daniel, with over 25 years in the arts as a Creative Director, composer, and musician, formerly led the Creative Programme at the Story Museum in Oxford.

Highlights:

Aurora Orchestra: one of the most innovative and boundary-breaking ensembles in classical music make their WMC debut performing Mendelssohnโ€™s much-loved โ€œItalian Symphonyโ€, and Prokofievโ€™s expressive Violin Concerto No 2 with Chloe Hanslip โ€“ all performed from memory. (21 Nov 2025) 

Bill Frisell Trio: Wiltshire Music Centre welcomes legendary jazz guitarist and composer and his acclaimed trio featuring Thomas Moran on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. This will be just one of a handful of UK performances, that includes the London Jazz Festival. (22 Nov 2025) 

Artist Residency: Groundbreaking clarinettist, active educator and composer Giacomo Smith performs a series of concerts: โ€œThe 1925โ€ (27 Sep) celebrating 100 years of Louis Armstrong featuring UKโ€™s jazz talents, Joe Webb and Laura Hurd; Giacomo Smith + Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra (12 Oct), a special afternoon of brilliant big band magic with talented young musicians; Giacomo Smith & Mozes Rosenberg โ€œManoucheโ€ (14 Nov), a special quartet project paying homage to Djanjo Reinhardtโ€™s musical legacy.

Penguin Cafe Plays Music from Penguin Cafe Orchestra: The sounds of Music from the cult avant-pop band of the 80s & 90s is played by group founded by Arthur Jeffes, son of the original creator, Simon (18 Nov)

Little Rituals presents Heliocentrics: Special event presented by Bradford on Avonโ€™s coolest coffee shop, Little Rituals: an evening of psychedelic-funk-jazz, audio-visuals, pop- up vinyl shop run by Melkshamโ€™s indie record shop, Doubles and cocktails. (29 Nov)

Tickets are now on sale from HERE.ย 

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festivalโ€“ Julian Costello Quartet โ€“ Assembly Room – Thursday 12th June 2025

Nice place.ย  Nice music. Nice.

Andy Fawthrop

The Devizes Arts Festival has almost run its course, with only a couple of days to go, but still seven events left.ย  But itโ€™s not going quietly, and last night in the Town Hallโ€™s Assembly Room was no exception……

British jazz saxophonist Julian Costello, a superbly gifted musician, composer and teacher from London, and who writes for various ensembles, was the Festivalโ€™s guest.ย  Playing tenor and soprano saxophones, he was joined by John Turville on piano, Andy Hamill on upright bass and harmonica, and Tom Hooper on drums.

The quartet has recently released their third album, โ€˜And All The Birds Were Set Freeโ€™ on the acclaimed label 33 Jazz Records, and their two sets last night featured many tracks from the album.  The albumโ€™s title is a reference to Costelloโ€™s idea that the musicians should be free to express themselves and able to fly. The pieces they played, including the title track, The Gecko, London Blue, Song For Anna and Sunflowers, were all good examples of this open, loosely-structured approach.  Each musician took his various solos easily, improvising on the scenario, but slotting into the structure laid down at the start of each piece.  The particular highlights of these for me were provided by John Turvilleโ€™s piano passages.

The original material was tempered with a leavening of jazz classics, including material from John Coltrane, La Rosita by Benny Goodman, and Carlos Jobimโ€™s If You Never Come To Me.  Costello himself, leading the quartet very much from the front, moved over from tenor to soprano sax for his composition Connections, based upon the structure of an Indian raga.  And bassist Any Hamill strayed onto a very welcome harmonica during the encore Song For Anna (written for Costelloโ€™s wife Anna Stearman).

Costelloโ€™s personal style was laid-back and chatty, bonding easily with the audience using dry humour, and the quartet were clearly very comfortable in each otherโ€™s company. Their enjoyment on stage was very evident.

After an absolute dearth of live jazz in D-Town, it was like drinking at an oasis after a long crawl through a musical desert.  But, parched as I was, I was left very slightly wanting.  The sets needed more variation in tempo, more contrast between light and shade.  Each number they played was very good, but it was slightly one-paced across the whole programme.  Donโ€™t get me wrong โ€“ this was a hugely enjoyable affair, featuring some great music in a beautiful room.  Sound and lighting were spot on (as usual).  But I was left wanting just that little bit more. More jazz please!

Findย  out more at www.juliancostello.co.uk/ย ย 

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until the night of Sunday 15th June at various venues around the town.ย  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online atย  www.devizesartsfestival.org.ukย 

JP Oldfield Meets The Devil’s Doorbell at the Cellar Bar

To suggest I’m knowledgeable about the music of the 1920s because I lived through the era is plain cheeky, though I wouldn’t put it past you! I like to think I know just enough to hold my own in a drunken waffle on the subject. Such is that Jellylegs Johnson suggested a resurgence of 1920s jazz was pending, to which I agreed, or at least I would appreciate it if it was soโ€ฆ.

Cos I love digging to discover the roots of music, although I cannot be certain a gig of the era resembled what occurred down the Bear’s Cellar Bar last night, even if it was labelled thus, but it was an entertaining night for sure. This much is guaranteed whenever The Devil’s Doorbell has moored nearby.

Yeah, that’s right, I said The Cellar Bar, that central cobblestoned cosy dungeon which holds as many fond memories for Devizions than it does history. It feels great to be down there, as it’s been a while, and this sentiment is shared with the modest audience.

Backstory to why we’re here goes, after our interview with Devizesโ€™ rising star of kazoo-blowing, suitcase drumming idiosyncratic delta blues, JP Oldfield, he landed a gig at Chippenham’s Old Road Tavern supporting the bonkers jazz skiffle duo and boaterโ€™s royalty of double-entendres, Devil’s Doorbell.

Being he was unaware of them at the time, I assured Josh he was in apt company. For if JP’s style is quirky, Nipper, a freewheeling James Baskett/George Formby crossover, and Jellylegs Johnson in sequined hot pants, feathered flapper girl headband and marigolds, audaciously but not impudently salvage long-lost rags, nuggets of bebop and gypsy jazz with tenor ukuleles, a kazzumpet, and Jellylegs on a bass handmade from a washtub and broom handleโ€ฆ and that’s beyond averagely quirky!

It’s also a hard act for anyone to follow, as the agenda was switched for Nipper and Jellylegs to open the show JP Oldfield had arranged. They rang the doorbell for surety, with their unique cheeky tunes and banter, which Jellylegs told me afterwards are often assumed to be of their own pen, rather than outrageous long-lost 78s of a golden jazz era. It’s always a pleasure to hear them play, and so playful with the circus-cabaret they are, it’s infectious.

JP contends with more sombre moods versus a need to be jocular, but his ability to find that perfect balance is his unique spin on delta blues, that and using a kazoo where a harmonica is usually positioned, and both are something blossoming with each gig. His masterwork to date, The Ghost of Spring-heeled Jack is the verification of this balance.

I don’t believe confidence was ever an issue for JP, but that’s grown too, and he proficiently pulled a stunning set of originals and rare covers, neatly chosen to compliment those of his own labour; Tainted Love perhaps not so rare, but with added kazoo, welcomed!

Though on this occasion JP proved he’s no one trick pony as he turned to harmonica for a song, and excused himself for any amateur delivery of it, which was unnecessary as it was sublimely done. As was his entire set.

If we fondly reviewed his debut EP last month, JP Oldfield astutely replicated the magic on stage and guided the crowd to his chosen mood. Likewise, we fondly reviewed Devil’s Doorbell live recording from Trowbridgeโ€™s Pump a couple of years ago, and their excellent stage presence sticks like mud. Two acts, complimenting in a manner others might find it tricky to do, makes for an entertaining night, which it was, and back in the Tin Pan Alley days of yore, of course instruments were handmade or secondhand, salvaged from wherever they could be sourced.

Maybe a gig in the 1920s wouldn’t have been so different to this after all, as both JP and the Devil’s Doorbell are authentic enough and value the retrospection, and when sprinkled with this fun element, does it even matter?!

Ruby, Sunday at the Gate

It’s a rarity that I should drag myself off the sofa on a Sunday these days, one usually reserved for the monthly Jon Amor Trio residency at The Southgate. But beyond doubt my favourite young singer-songwriter right now, Ruby Darbyshire, is down my favourite watering hole, and such an occasion would be unmissable even if she did it weekly; twist my arm, why don’t you?!

This raw and self-disciplined talent when I discovered Ruby a little under two years ago was so breathtaking it caused me to state, โ€œRubyโ€™s music will grow into a phenomenon, and you need to hear it blossoming.โ€ I’m honoured to note it’s quoted on her website, one which everyone took heed of, on our local scene and beyond, and one which we can safely convert to past tense; Ruby’s music has blossomed and is now phenomenal.

Everyone was held spellbound throughout, this is now standard protocol wherever Ruby plays. Though Ruby remains modest and โ€œshowyโ€ simply doesn’t equate for her performances, alongside her refined multi-instrumentalism, her confidence to present herself and engage with an audience has accelerated to level up with the naturally sublime soulful voice she’s blessed with. A voice which may be kingpin to her excellence, but is really only the cherry on a cake with top marks all round.

A cake which covers virtuosos Nina Simone to Freddie Mercury, and makes them her own homages, then flips to bring Rag’n’Bone Man’s magnum opus to an older audience, and slides her own compositions in so effectively it’s divinelyย  encapsulating. Then, there’s the additional nods to her Scottish roots; folk sing-a-longs and her distinctive introduction to the second half of her set, with bagpipes. Even if you know it’s coming, you’ll never tire of it or any of it because that’s simply the magic Ruby brings to any venue.ย  Ruby Darbyshire is the whole deal now.

Returning to Kaya Street For Fuller Soul Sessions

In November last year I was mightily impressed with Bristol soul-reggae producer Kaya Street, and reviewed their EP The Soul Sessions, read it here for thereโ€™s no reason to go back through rewriting it, everything I said stands, except for one sectionโ€ฆ.

At the time I praised Kaya Street for the experimental fusions which seemed to switch from four-beat soul and jazz into offbeat reggae, simultaneously evoking sounds of Africa like soukous. I said, โ€œitโ€™s not the ingredients in Kaya Streetโ€™s melting pot which makes it prominently interesting and beguiling, rather the way they stir it, the method in the composition and production.โ€

Despite taking into account albums like Mo Waxโ€™s 1996 Money Markโ€™s Keyboard Repair Kit, which used short fragments and splinters of ideas deliberately juxtaposed to create a kind of musical mosaic, I did make a slight criticism about The Soul Sessions, and that was that they were underdeveloped and tended to end abruptly and far too soon. I stated at the time,  โ€œIf I am to find some niggly, itโ€™s a lack of intro; the songs tend to jerk right in, but I guess itโ€™s because I have the single edits here, and Kaya Streetโ€™s impressive lineup is plentiful to convince me they know the formula to extend and polish.โ€ 

I am glad to hear that has now been amended and extended versions of the radio edits have been uploaded to Spotify. Each tunenow runs at an average five to seven minutes, and sounds complete. Itโ€™s now time to fully ingest the absolute magic of Kaya Street, in which youโ€™re taken in smoother and played out satisfied by more wholesome versions of their interesting and wonderful fusions, and melting pot of influences, and, in turn, the journey is now complete.

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Jamsters; A New Initiative For Musicians at The Southgate

Bob Marley sang โ€œjamminโ€™ โ€˜til the jam is through,โ€ Jimmy Cricketโ€™s catchphrase was โ€œcomeโ€™ere, thereโ€™s more,โ€ but it looks like The Southgate in Devizes is combining the two. Jamsters is landlord Daveโ€™s new initiative to provide a Friday night platform for loose groupings and associations created at their regular jam sessions each Wednesdayโ€ฆ.

The inaugural occurrence of this happened in November, with JP Oldfield, Gordon Thompson and Sammi Evans, this Friday, 10th Jan, sees the turns of Ben Borril, Chrissy โ€œSteenโ€ Chapman of Burn the Midnight Oil, Adam Spanswick and George (not the pub dog!) and they kick off at 8pm. We understand this is to become a monthly occasion,and are happy to hear of it!

Wednesdays jam sessions have been in operation for some years now at the Gate, and have become something of a regular convention for local musicians to gather and network. Perhaps more so even than open mic nights, these jam sessions not only provide entertainment, practice, and the chance of making friends and connections, but are also an opportunity for our local musicians to experiment and see who works well together. During its time weโ€™ve seen collaborations and bands formatted from it, such as Pat Ward and Ben Borrillโ€™s Matchbox Mutiny and Tom Harrisโ€™ No Alarms And No Devizes.

Now, with a monthly instalment of this Friday night extension of the jam sessions, we hope to see more groupings form and flourish from it. Through all the current hardships of the hospitality industry, The Southgate continue to buck the trend through their dedication to making the pub a friendly, affordable, and welcoming place and, supporting, not the recognisable big names rather upcoming local musicians; the like whoโ€™ll mingle with the punters and be glad you came. Thatโ€™s itโ€™s community feel and thatโ€™s itโ€™s grand appealโ€ฆ I hope to see you down there soon, mineโ€™s a pint of Rosieโ€™s Pig, cheers!! 

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โ€œA Streetcar Named Desireโ€ at The Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, November 27th-30th.

by Ian Diddams
Images by Josie Mae-Ross and Infrogmation

Tennessee Williamsโ€™ quasi autobiographical drama โ€œA Streetcar Named Desireโ€ was first performed in 1947 as the world emerged from years of global conflict. That war had changed things for ever in many ways โ€ฆ  while in others, many things remained the same. Williamsโ€™ own familyโ€™s misfortunes and situations are threaded throughout the play, but while those may have been in reality based in the 30s and 40s the issues he raises โ€“ of misogyny, bigotry, domestic abuse, violence, homophobia, and social snobbery โ€“ are as obvious today as they were almost eighty years ago.

As titles go though, it may well have been simply named โ€œThe Fall and Fallโ€ฆ.  And Fall of Blanche DuBoisโ€

The eponymous streetcar ran on the line of that name in New Orleans until around the time the play was first performed. Its simple plot is that of Blanche DuBois and her fall from status, grace and finally sanity. Surrounding her is her sister Stella, who abandoned their cocooned life years before, Stella’s husband Stanley, a course, uncultured โ€œPolak,โ€ and their abusive relationship is mirrored by their neighbours Steve and Eunice.

A glimmer of light comes Blancheโ€™s way in the guise of Mitch, seemingly gentler and more appreciative โ€ฆ  until he turns, showing his shared heritage with the other men. Blanche descends into madness as her airs and graces so vilified by Stanley slip away to expose her own seedy recent past, and her own bigotries, while exposing the other womenfolkโ€™s tightrope walk through their marriages.

This is not a light play. It would come with plenty of trigger warnings โ€“ domestic violence, homophobia, rape, alcohol abuse, to name but a few of them. That the company present these challenging aspects convincingly without descending into casual titillation or merely seeking to shock is tribute to their acting skills, the direction of Heidi Street, and the set and technical wizardry on display.

There is another aspect to heighten the senses, and bring New Orleans’ Latin Quarter into this pleasant eastern suburb of genteel Bath, UK. The showโ€™s very own jazz band of Tom Turner, Peter Tucker and Yvonne Paulley providing the appropriate Louisiana style soundtrack to complete this exquisite holistic production.

Not content with playing clarinet as above, Yvonne also appears as the Nurse and a rose seller with a fine command of Spanish, and in-between those two demands also produced the show. Accompanying her and is another clearly ridiculously talented man, Tom Turner swapping his saxophone to play the Doctor as the stranger whose kindness Blanche, for a final time, relies on. Toby Skelton is another all-rounder who aside from stage managing all of this also appears as the Young Man, while Riza Domi is obviously far more sensible, with just the one role of Pablo, one of Stanleyโ€™s poker playing buddies.

Neighbourly Steve and Eunice are subtly portrayed by Tim Carter and Sophie Kerr, all lovey-dovey and lustful โ€“ until the pans begin to fly. Tim Hounsome sensitively plays Mitch, Blancheโ€™s almost love interest โ€“ until his urges almost overtake him and finally his own prejudices come through. Stella is sympathetically portrayed by the excellent Lauren Arena-McCann who as an American herself โ€“ albeit from New York State and not Louisiana also doubled up as unofficial voice coach! Her portrayal of an oppressed wife trapped in a caustic, abusive relationship in which she acquiesces easily to her own lustful urges, while protecting her sister from a world Blanche cannot comprehend is painfully perfect. Matt Rushton delivers Stanley cringingly well tooโ€ฆ  his physical presence, large voice and overbearing character is full of unspoken menace the entire play; of course, to Stella but also to his drinking and poker buddies who he controls through fear.

Which simply leaves Blanche DuBois. Lucy Upward is the very essence of Southern belle โ€“ sophisticated, used to the finer things in life, seeking to move in the right social circlesโ€ฆ  but exposing the cracks in that edifice as the story unfolds.  Delicious flirtatiousness, demure repose, increasing intemperance and the slide into insanity as her Walter Mitty world collapses around her. Lucy captures these airs, moods, and madness perfectly โ€“ she IS Blanche DuBois.

The set is a marvel โ€“ a perfect setting to portray a cramped two room apartment in the confines of a community theatre. Muslin roman blinds provide discreet views of more intimate โ€“ and jarring – moments while the rake of the stalls provides the upstairs flat from Stella and Stanleyโ€™s own. Costumes by Chrissie Fry as ever from her, capture the times and characters so well, from Blancheโ€™s diminished trousseau to Stanleyโ€™s slobbish attire replete with hideous bowling shirt.

There is false hope, there is pain, there is self-delusion, there is despair. But overall, at the Rondo this week, with a sold out run, there is a Streetcarโ€ฆ  named Desire.







Jazz Orchestras and Senegalese Kora to Musical Bingo; New Autumn-Winter Program at Wiltshire Music Centre

Seems like an age since I last visited Bradford-on-Avonโ€™s wonderful Wiltshire Music Centre, though Iโ€™ve been listing their vast range of events on our calendar. Maybe itโ€™s a good time for you to check out whatโ€™s going on there as theyโ€™ve just released their autumn-winter programโ€ฆ.

From contemporary and folk to jazz and classical, thereโ€™s a massive variety. I’d go out on a limb to suggest you’ll not find such diversity in any local music venue. The season begins with some Northumbrian pipe folk with Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening on Wednesday 2nd October. Pupils of The Yehudi Menuhin School, a global leader in music education, present a varied showcase of talent and skill from their young musicians on Sunday 6th.

While Friday 11th gets choral with innovative and creative vocal ensemble The Marian Consort, telling the story of Renaissance art through sound, renowned Pink Floyd tribute All Floyd recreates the Division Bell album on the Saturday at St Margaret’s Hall, while Syrian โ€œQueen of the Qananโ€ Maya Youssef returns to the centre.

BBC Folk Musicians of the Year Andy Cutting and Sam Sweeney group with Rob Harbron on Wednesday 16th for some freeform folk under the guise Leveret. Food critic and MasterChef judge Jay Rayner arrives Saturday 19th as a pianist with a penchant for jazzy โ€˜80s pop; who knew?!

Catherine at the Music Centre really wanted me to highlight the Charity Musical Bingo night on Wednesday 23rd October. โ€œItโ€™s very new for us,โ€ she told us, but if, like me, youโ€™re thinking โ€˜bingo, really?โ€™ note, she explained the spin on it, โ€œweโ€™re planning it to be glitzy and fun, with an added fancy dress competition, live music from quirky covers band FLQ, plus food from Feast Brothers. Itโ€™s a fundraiser for the Centre; instead of numbers on a bingo card, we play snippets of pop songs from the 50s onwards and if they are on your card, you mark them off until you win.โ€ย  That’s my kinda bingo!

Bringing together an electrifying seven-piece band of influential Senegalese musicians and vocalists, master kora player and singer Seckou Keita could have you swaying to the beat of his latest album, Homeland, on Friday 25th October, while The Urban Folk Quartet mix Celtic tune forms, traditional song and cross-genre influences like Afrobeat, Bluegrass, funk and rock, on Saturday 26th.

Kasai Masai at Wiltshire Music Centre, December 2023

October ends with the classical, a lunchtime concert from Italian string musicians Trio Chagall, and weโ€™ve only mentioned the first month. November sees Sir Stephen Hough, The Bristol Ensemble, both Trowbridge and Bath Symphony Orchestras, and Bachโ€™s Brandenburg Concertos with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. For folk thereโ€™s Calan and Manran, thereโ€™s a homage to Simon & Garfunkel, and a big weekend of jazz.

And weโ€™ve not yet covered all the family events like Voices for Life where 200 children from local primary schools sing with BBC Young Chorister of the Year, Belinda Gifford-Guy, or youth projects like Wiltshire England Youth Orchestra and Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Weโ€™ve not touched upon the sterling work of the Zone Club at the centre, offering Monthly creative sessions for learning disabled young adults. Thereโ€™s probably more amazing work going on at Wiltshire Music Centre I donโ€™t even know about, but you cannot deny, itโ€™s a fantastic place with a heart of gold. And you need no other reason to pick up some tickets and support their fundraisers, safe in the knowledge youโ€™re supporting a rather special organisation pushing boundaries in local arts and music.

For full program details, and to book tickets, see HERE.

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festival โ€“ The Sound Of Blue Note @ Assembly Room 13th June 2024

Cool, Man

Andy Fawthrop

Devizes Arts Festivalโ€™s programme continued on Thursday night, and it was time for a little jazz.ย  As I often say (apparently) thereโ€™s nothing like sax in the evening….

Terry Quinneyโ€™s Sound Of Blue Note features some of the most prominent jazz musicians in the Southwest whose main aim is to accurately recreate the music and aesthetic that defined the Blue Note Records sound of the 1950s and 1960s.ย  Their repertoire features music from Blue Note legends like Hank Mobley, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Horace Silver and more, all directly transcribed from the original recordings and performed with all the swinging intensity that is synonymous with the legendary record label.

The band last night consisted of Andy Urquhart (trumpet), Terry Quinney (saxophones), Ben Taylor (double bass), Andy Chapman (drums) and Phil Doyle (piano).  And they turned up, fully suited and booted, very much looking the part of what (I imagine) a 50s/ 60s jazz club band ought to look like. 

Iโ€™d been hoping that weโ€™d have more of a club atmosphere and aesthetic, with a tables-and-chairs layout, but we had to settle for a more traditional cinema seating arrangement.  No matter โ€“ the band and the audience settled right in.  Describing themselves at one point as a โ€œBlue Note covers band, or tribute bandโ€, the mood and the swing were soon established.  I prefer the word โ€œhomageโ€ myself, but I might then be justifiably accused of being a tad pretentious.  No matter.  Back to the jazz.

This was a bunch of guys who were clearly very comfortable with their material, with their arrangements, and with playing in each otherโ€™s company.  They sounded absolutely great, tight when they needed to be, but with that wonderful ability to fall back and give space to the many solos and improvisations.

I was not personally familiar with much of the material, but fortunately I was accompanied by someone who knew what they were listening to and was able to explain some of the finer points to me.  Added to Terry Quinneyโ€™s between-numbers commentary, I picked up more of the background.  But it really didnโ€™t matter โ€“ the quintet delivered what, to my ears at least, was a great night of jazz.  Through two 50-minute sets, the band held the audience enthralled and entertained.  The applause was warm and frequent, and an encore was fully deserved.

I just wish, as Iโ€™ve said before, that we had more frequent opportunities to catch some jazz in D-Town on a more regular basis, rather than having to wait for a year for the Arts Festival to book artists of this calibre.  Thereโ€™s an opportunity there somewhere!

You can find out more about The Sound Of Blue Note at terryquinney.wixsite.com/sobn

The Devizes Arts Festival is moving towards its end now, but there are still several events on Friday night and over the weekend, with tickets available, until Sunday 16th June at various venues around the town.ย 

Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.ukย 

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festival โ€“ Edward Cross Quintet @ Assembly Roomย  4th June 2024

By Andy Fawthrop

Fine Music In A Fine Room

Today Devizes Arts Festival wheeled out its first classical offering, and chose a particularly fine room in which to showcase this young composer/ musician and his all-female quintet.ย  Iโ€™ve often said how much I admire the Assembly Room in the Town Hall, and I think itโ€™s a perfect fit for this type of concert.

Edward Cross is a Wiltshire based multiโ€instrumentalist with a background in composition and production. He studied at Goldsmiths University and has performed in notable venues including Bath Abbey. His dynamic quintet comprised double bass, cello, viola, violin, and trombone, and this ensemble was completed by Edward himself on (mostly) piano and (occasionally) clarinet.

We were treated, over the course of an hour, to several short pieces of neo-classical exploration.  Most of these were subtle, quiet, meandering pieces.  The mood was suppressed and under-stated.  Most, but not all, were composed by Edward himself.  His interactions with the audience consisted mostly of the introductions to each piece, but with only the very minimum of explanation.

The playing was technically good by all the six musicians, but I was longing for them to play something a little more upbeat.  The programme seemed a little flat to me, only using a very limited palette of tempo and texture.  I craved a little more variation, a little more volume. I felt that the quintet were rather under-used, and was left wondering what they might be capable of if given a little more freedom.

Overall โ€“technically enjoyable, but emotionally not very engaging.  It felt like driving a powerful car, but without ever getting up into the higher gears.  Just my opinion of course โ€“ the audience clearly enjoyed the session, but I was left wanting rather more.  Which just goes to prove that you canโ€™t please all of the people all of the time!

More information on Edward, and access to his music, is available at www.edwardcross.co.uk/

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 16th June at various venues around the town.ย 

Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.ukย 

CrownFest is Back!

Yay! You read it right. After a two year break, CrownFest is back at the Crown in Bishop’s Cannings. So put a big tick ontoโ€ฆ

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Weekly Roundup of Events in Wiltshire: 15th-21st May 2024

Hereโ€™s what weโ€™ve found to do in the wilds of Wiltshire this coming weekโ€ฆ

Everything listed here is on our event calendar; go there for links and more info. It may be updated, so check in later in the week.

Ongoing: A Wiltshire Thatcher: A Photographic Journey Through Victorian Wessex runs at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, until the end of August; review here. 

The Thrill of Love is currently running at the Wharf Theatre until Saturday, hereโ€™s a review.

Wednesday 15th

Acoustic Jam at The Southgate, Devizes.

Patsy Gamble Jazz Trio at St Nicholas Church in Bromham, preview here.

Jonathan Leibovitz at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon.

Mohamed Errebbaa at the Bell, Bath

Memory Cinema at Swindon Arts Centre, for those suffering with dementia and their carers, screening The Lavender Hill Mob (U). Latin funk jazz with Starlings at Jazz Knights in The Royal Oak, Swindon.

Thursday 16th

Royal Wootton Bassett Carnival & Fun Fair starts and finishes at the weekend.

Courting Ghosts at The Tuppenny, Swindon. Rusty Goatโ€™s Poetry All-Stars at Twigs Community Gardens. Memory Sing at Swindon Arts Centre. Pete Allenโ€™s Jazz Band at Swindon Arts Centre. Antiques and a Little Bit of Nonsense at The Wyvern Theatre.

Friday 17th

Full On Fridays at the Exchange, Devizes, with DJ Stevie MC.

Medium Nikki Kitt is at Melksham Assembly Hall .

Mosquito at the Aldbourne Social Club.

Pat Sharp Party Night at the Civic, Trowbridge.

Ion Maiden at The Vic, Swindon. Simplicity at the Queenโ€™s Tap. Ashley Blaker at Swindon Arts Centre. Julian Clary โ€“ A Fistful Of Clary at The Wyvern Theatre.

Ruzz Guitar Trio at The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon. Karport Collective at The Boathouse.

Bath International Music Festival begins today, running until 26th May. Bootleg Bee Gees at Chapel Arts. Daliso Chapondaโ€™s Feed this Black Man Again at The Rondo Theatre, Bath.

Dutty Moonshine DJ Set at The Tree House, Frome.

The Chilled Out Motorhome and Camper Weekender in Cirencester opens.

Saturday 18th

Devizes Vegan Market at The Market Place from 10am-3pm. Mynt Image Craft Fair in the Corn Exchange. The Dirt Road Band at Long Street Blues Club. Canuteโ€™s Plastic Army at The Southgate, Edโ€™s pick of the week this one. Adam Woodhouse at The Three Crowns. Caztro is in the mix at the Exchange.

White Horse Soapbox Derby in Westbury.

Mosaic Dogs at The Lamb, Trowbridge.

Talk in Code at The Kings Arms, Amesbury.

Rachel Newton at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Black Wendy at The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon. Vocal Works Gospel Choir โ€“ live at 21 at the Wiltshire Music Centre.

Shelf is at the Rondo Theatre, Bath, with a kids version, then teenage men version. Roxy Magic at Chapel Arts.

The Bowie Experience at The Vic, Swindon. Awakening Savannah at The Queenโ€™s Tap. 

The Soul Strutters at the Woodlands Edge. Drew Bryant at the New Inn. The Blackheart Orchestra at Swindon Arts Centre. eMotion Dance Competition at The Wyvern Theatre.

Frome Memorial Theatre Open Day followed by Jive Talkinโ€™. John Lydon is at the Cheese & Grain. ZZ Toppd at the Tree House.

Sunday 19th

The Hoodoos at The Southgate, Devizes from 5pm.

Open Mic at the Red Lion, Lacock.

Shot by Both Sides at The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon.

Eddie Martin at the Bell, Bath.

Lee Hurst โ€“ Sweet Sorted Lovely at Swindon Arts Centre.

The Frome International Climate Film Festival at the Cheese & Grain.

Monday 20th

Tony Remy, James Morton & Anders Olinder at the Bell, Bath.

Steeleye Span at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon.

Tuesday 21st

Letโ€™s Walk โ€“ Caen Hill & Jubilee Wood

Crazy Bird Comedy Night at The Piggy Bank Micropub, Calne.

Gareth Williams Trio for Jazz Knights at The Royal Oak, Swindon.

Ash Mandrake & Jenny Bliss at the Bell, Bath.

And thatโ€™s all weโ€™ve got for now; fill your boots! Events listed here are subject to change, we are not responsible for cancellations, errors or postponements in anything listed.

Do check ahead with our every-changing events diary. 

Shindig Festival at Dillington Park begins next week, the last Shindig festival, have a good one from me.Also find upcoming Chippenham Folk Festival 24th-27th May. Love Saves the Day in Bristol. Beer and Cider Festival at Swindon & Cricklade Railway. Cursus Festival 2024 Dorset. Chris Moyles 90s Hangover Festival at Swindon Town FC. 

In Devizes Nothing Rhymes With Orange makes a homecoming at The Three Crowns on Friday 24th. And isnโ€™t it high time you snapped up some tickets for the Devizes Arts Festival at the end of the month running into June? 

Important note: events which come to our attention from now on, will be updated on the Event Calendar and NOT HERE. So, be sure to check in from time to time, use the Event Calendar to find more info on everything listed on here, and for ticket links, etc. Use the Event Calendar to check for updates and planning ahead.

Did we miss you out? Did you tell us about your event? Itโ€™s not that we donโ€™t like you, itโ€™s because Devizine uses many sources to collate these listings, and sometimes we miss a few things. Listing your event here is free, but please make it easier for me by messaging or emailing the info, and then, and this is the really important part, make sure Iโ€™ve added it and let me know if not!

Have a good week!

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Pig Hill No More! Swindonโ€™s Fantastic Jazz & Soul Festival

If a rare journey to Swindon usually lands me in the Vic or Beehive, today things were going to be different. A lack of beer tap options was made up, tenfold, by outstanding acoustics of a nineteenth century church, a second stage in the accompanying community centre, an impressive all-day selection of jazz and African music, a delicious Jamaican food stall, and a unique and upfront experience locally with happy hospitality; welcome to the second day of Swindon Jazz & Soul Festivalโ€ฆ.I took my favourite jazzy hat, but left it the car!

Having been listing the regular club events of Jazz Knights at Swindon’s Royal Oak, generally on Tuesday evenings, for a while on our event calendar, it was high time I poked my nose in, and their annual jazz and soul festival at Old Townโ€™s Christ Church was the ideal opportunity. Itโ€™s in its fourth year, folk there told me itโ€™s become an unmissable annual attraction.

Arriving a day late, Friday concentrated on the soul element, climaxing with a Stevie Wonder tribute; would’ve enjoyed this but duty called. Saturday, I’m informed, is all about jazz; I’m somewhat in the dark with jazz hands and technicalities, but more than okay with that. Also, though, the community centre adjacent offers various styles and interpretations of African music; double-whammy.

The initial impressive element hits you before entry, the place is amazeballs. And once in, the acoustics in this colossal spire church are stupendous. This was supplied, at the time, by Cheltenham’s leading saxophonist and composer Kim Cypher, with the archetypal red beret and overwhelming quartet; nice hat, see?!

If jazz in its heyday was considered outrageous and one wouldn’t find it in a church, times change, clearly; all the pews accounted for by large age and ethnic demographics, all taking in the beautiful sounds of traditional jazz, in harmony, with a hint of red wine, said equally as much as the once popular Marlborough Jazz Festival. But I must check the community centre too, as Two-Man-Ting are already playing, and I know and love these guys, from them having played the trusty Southgate back in Devizes.

This Bristol-based duo consisting of English guitarist Jon Lewis, who has a clear penchant for Two-Tone and punk inclinations of yore, and Jah-man Aggrey, a Sierra Leonean percussionist, make for an amazingly unique sound with wonderful audience participation. They made it obvious, as a world music lover, this mini-Womad is going to be my preferred base for the day; found myself a comfy chair.

With an African fusion dance workshop with Morilie Taiwo of Dance Roots Africa in the centre, my two left feet sought the Jamaica Me Crazy stall to fill my soul food appreciation, which they did, mouth-wateringly. And between acts I sauntered from there to the main stage. Though my knowledge of jazz can be written on a matchbox, I know what I like. Bristol’s The Ibou Tall Jazzmates are causing an incredible sound, contemporary yet bebop, like Charlie Parkerโ€ฆ to my untrained ear!

When I did drop back to the centre, a crazy-haired saxophonist was wandering through dancing crowds, and I guessed this must be Rhythm Of Africa, an experimentally yet entertaining, and often comical trio, exceptionally skilled in creating a beguiling sound through just djembe drum, guitar and balafon, the latter taken up by said saxophonist.

Things were more traditional jazz in the church, with the aptly named It’s Trad Dad, a passionate orchestra of accomplished musicians. All very conventional, tad swing, and delivered with an astute passion you couldn’t ignore. Here is what I was expecting to see, I got it with bells on, anything else was a bonus ball.

The crรจme de la crรจme of The African music showcase, Suntou Susso made my night, though; a bonus ball indeed. Half Gambian half Senegalese, Suntou Susso introduced the audience to his instrument of choice, the Kora. It’s a lute-harp multi-string instrument made from cow skin covered pumpkin, with a mahogany bridge, and he truly is a virtuoso of it. I’ve heard this instrument before, through an old cassette of Dembo Konte and Kausu Kuyateh, but I’ve never seen it played. To add to the already sublime ambience, Suntou completes this enchanting effect with a full funky backing band, proficiently tight and uniformed. It was, in short, a jaw-dropping awe moment.

I arrived at Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival concerned it might all be rather insular, born from a regular jazz club in a town erroneously preconceived to be cultureless, hence leaving my jazzy hat in the car! Figuring it’s akin to Mickey Mouse ears at Disneyland, or an I โ€˜heartโ€™ NY in New York, isnโ€™t it? Jazzy hat might suggest Iโ€™m desperately trying to conform, when really, I look like a twat in it; it can stay on the backseat, I didn’t need a clichรฉ to fit in!

To consider if Oxford has its university and Bath has its Roman Baths, Swindon has its Magic Roundabout, is picky, you know this, and think of Spitfires, Doris Day, Edith New and the GWR; I believe anyone in a nearby town critical of Swindon has infrastructure jealousy issues! Still, I pondered that I shouldn’t expect miracles. I left feeling precisely the opposite. This comfy, quirky and buoyant mini-festival was certainly communal, but friendly and welcoming, and what’s more, the musical professionalism was of top quality. The hat wouldnโ€™t have ruined the effect after all; it was as unpretentious as youโ€™d want a jazz festival to be; bloomin’ marvellous!

Let me be the Melinda Messenger in your Billie Pipeline, local jazz aficionados take note, Jazz Knights is well worth trekking to Swindon for, and any and everyone looking for a unique and sincere music appreciation festival should bookmark next year’s Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival; I had fun there, my hat didnโ€™t!

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Sax in the Country; Patsy Gamble Jazz Trio Comes to Bromham

After an inaugural midweek gig with local legend Andrew Hurst this month, it seems Bromham’s St Nicholas Church could be the unexpected new rural music venue worth talking about, as jazz saxophonist Patsy Gamble arrives on Wednesday May 15thโ€ฆ..

If brass is class, Stroud’s Patsy Gamble comes with an impressive rรฉsumรฉ. A British Blues Award finalist in 2011 and 2012, Patsy plays soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones and has performed across Europe and the Middle East. As a session saxophonist with one of the UKโ€™s top horn sections, The Little Big Horns, there’s a hall of fame of names she’s worked with, from Steve Winwood, Mick Jagger, Paul Weller and Suggs, to Jasper Carrott.

Patsy performs freelance and with her own bands, The Patsy Gamble Blues Collective, and both as a jazz trio and quartet, is a vocalist, composer, and somehow even finds time for some art on the side!  You may have seen her working with the incredibly cool Eddie Martin, a regular axeman on our circuit, and a particular favourite at our trusty Southgate in Devizes. You can also catch Patsy with her Blues Collective onย Sunday, 26th May, at The Southgate.

But it’s the jazz trio appearing in Bromham, with Tristan Watson on guitar and bassist Duncan Kingston, and there’s nothing better to cure those midweek blues than a touch of jazz, but you knew tgat already….

Tickets are ยฃ15 from HERE

Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival 19th & 20th April featuring Darius Brubeck, The Wonder of Stevie, and Suntou Susso

Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival is coming soon, over the 18th to the 20th April at Christ Church and free fringe events at the Royal Oak, both in the heart of Swindon, Old Townโ€ฆ.

The 4th Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival continues to bring world class acts to Wiltshire, and this year includes a month of free entry Festival Fringe events at The Royal Oak Old Town.

The main event starts with ‘An Evening of Classic Soul’ (Friday 18th April) which is headlined by The Wonder of Stevie, the Ultimate Celebration of Stevie Wonder. The project has been a favourite throughout theatres and is the brainchild of two of the top performers in the UK, Noel McCalla and Derek Nash. Noel McCallaโ€™s long association with the Morrisey Mullen Band earned him acclaim as โ€œone of Britainโ€™s best Soul Singers,โ€ (Blues and Soul Magazine). Noel’s vocals were featured with the iconic Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and he provided vocals on Mike Rutherford’s album, Smallcreep’s Day.

The award winning saxophonist Derek Nash has played with Jools Hollandโ€™s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra since 2004 and is also a member of the Ronnie Scotts Blues Explosion. He has performed live with artists such as Gregory Porter, Chaka Khan, David Sanborn, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Amy Winehouse and many, many more.

Billy & Louie Soul Band

The Evening of Classic Soul also features local talent Billy & Louie, will perform with their new nine-piece soul band, following their soul out debut concert. The duo are set to perform an array of soulful classics from Aretha Franklin to Bill Withers. Theyโ€™ll also perform soulful versions of some of their own material from their debut EP โ€˜Manifesting Youโ€™.

On the David Knight Jazz Stage (Saturday 20th April) the line up is headlined by the Darius Brubeck Quartet. Born in San Francisco, Jazz pianist and composer Darius Brubeck grew up in the artistic milieu of his famous father Dave Brubeck and has enjoyed a lifetime of international experience as band leader, composer, teacher and broadcaster. Previously a Professor of music in South Africa, his concerts also feature South African music as well as some of  Dave Brubeckโ€™s iconic hits.

DARIUS BRUBECK QUARTET / Clerkenwell / Shot by Rob Blackham / http://www.blackhamimages.com

The 2023 festival added a showcase of music from Africa which was a huge success and the 2024 event will continue to include this genre. The African stage (Saturday 20th April) is headlined by Suntou Susso and his band. Celebrated across Africa and Europe, Suntou is a Kora player (a 22 stringed harp-lute), percussionist, singer and composer from The Gambia. Born into the 700-year-old Griot tradition, Suntou performs his role as a historian, storyteller, and unifier of people through song. The group combines the rich, traditional sound of West-African Mandinka culture with Afro jazz and soul.

The event also features favourites at Devizes Southgate, Two Man Ting, the Bristol-based duo of English guitarist Jon Lewis, who has a clear penchant for Two-Tone and punk inclinations of yore, and Jah-Man Aggrey, a Sierra Leonean percussionist. Also, Ibou Tall Quintet, Ian Bateman’s ‘It’s Trad, Dad’, Billy & Louie’s Soul Band,ย  Kim Cypher Quartet, and more.

Two Man Ting

The Festival Fringe is being held at The Royal Oak Old Town which is the home of Tuesday weekly Jazz nights. From 19th March, leading up to the festival, they will be celebrating some of the biggest names in Jazz such as Herbie Hancock and Stan Getz, with some of the best musicians on the scene. All the fringe events are free entry and the first set is at 8pm. As well as the live music, their restaurant, The ChopTank will be serving a delicious menu before and during the first set. Please contact the venue directly for table or pre music dinner – 01793 977337.

Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival Tickets from HERE

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Recommendations for when Swindon gets Shuffling

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A Busy Week For Lunch Box Buddy!

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Devizes Arts Festival Reveal Full Line-Up for 2024

After a larger quantity of social media teasers than previous years, Devizes Arts Festival has today revealed their full line-up for 2024. Better take a peaky sneaky gander at it, keep in their good books, because it looks rather special! Based on previous experience they usually range from pretty awesome to super-duper lights are gonna find me awesomeโ€ฆso here goesโ€ฆโ€ฆ

The festival runs from Friday 31st May to Sunday 16th June, and never fails to bring us a diverse programme of separate events within the arts, music and theatre, but also takes in talks and walks. Some come with a worthy price tag, but thereโ€™s lots of free fringe events also. All it takes is for you to support it.

I donโ€™t know about you, but the first one I got excited about when I heard, was Bristolโ€™s soulful indie-folk singer-songstress Lady Nade, who plays the Corn Exchange on Saturday 1st June. I put this Lady on my must-see list after fondly reviewing her album Willing back in 2021. Iโ€™ve not yet had the opportunity to see her live. Yet it is not for that reason Iโ€™m grateful to the Arts Festival for booking Lady Nade, rather in contemplation of the elevated sentimentality channelled through her Americana-fuelled songs.

I summed up the album at the time, with โ€œwritten during the pandemic, thereโ€™s a secluded ambience echoing through these eleven sublime three-minute plus stories of friendship, love and loneliness lost and found, reflecting the fact it was recorded in multiple studios and engineered by all the musicians in isolation. Yet to hear it will hold you spellbound in a single place, till its conclusion.โ€

If that doesnโ€™t tempt you I donโ€™t know what will! But Lady Nade is not before a high-energy Penzance sea-punk grand opening to the festival, with Golden Gnome award winning Jolly Roger, at the Corn Exchange on Friday 31st May; blistering barnacles, Captain Haddock, that sure sounds like some swashbuckling shenanigans.

History of Market Lavington, anyone? Sunday 2nd has a festival walk, followed by the first two free fringe events, consummate story-teller Adam Alexanderโ€™s Seed Detective at The Peppermill from 2pm, and a solo loop pedal show with Eddy Allen, 7pm at the Cellar Bar.

Likely the best known name on the roster, comedian Lucy Porter comes to Devizes on Thursday 6th June, and Iโ€™m sure youโ€™re all aware of her distinctive, bouncy, feel-good comedy from TV and radio panel shows, and being victorious on Celebrity Mastermind.

Lucy Porter

Prior to this headliner, NHS doctor, journalist, broadcaster, speaker, campaigner and comedian Dr Phil Hammond on Monday 3rd June presents โ€˜How to Fix the NHSโ€™ and โ€˜The Ins and Outs of Pleasureโ€ฆโ€™ Iโ€™ve my own suggestions on the subject, donโ€™t get me started, but maybe add Prime Minister to Philโ€™s already impressive rรฉsumรฉ!

Wiltshire based multiโ€instrumentalist, the Edward Cross Quintet at the Assembly Rooms on Tuesday 4th June. Liz Grandโ€™s superb, funny, moving, sensitive and informative portrayal of Clementine Churchill, also on Tuesday at the Merchant Suite.

Wednesday 5th June sees English naturalist, ecologist, author and broadcaster Mike Dilger, known as the wildlife reporter on The One Show, doing a talk on One Thousand Shades of Green, his quest to find 1000 different British plants in a calendar year and assess how our flora is faring in modern Britain. Geneticist, author and broadcaster, Adam Rutherford, who frequently appears on science programmes on both radio and TV, also gives an engaging, provocative and informative talk the Arts Festival promises to be unmissable.

Hollie McNish. Image: Kat Gollock

Poet and author Hollie McNish presents her Lobster Tour on Thursday 6th June at the Town Hall; Iโ€™m just chatting about her with the legend who is Kieran J Moore, seems Hollie played Bath Komedia recently, he recommends, and you canโ€™t get a better local recommendation than that. 

The weekend sees a blues, skiffle, calypso and rockabilly mesh, apparently with a sweeping vaudeville twist, which sounds like a beguiling and exhaustive blend I must say!ย Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls are at the Corn Exchange Friday 7th June.

Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls

Londonโ€™s Cable Street Collective headline Saturday, an intriguing one, their sound mixes African-influenced guitars and beats with soulful female vocals, socially conscious lyrics and western melodies, creating an idiosyncratic alt-pop sound thatโ€™s all their own.

Sunday 9th June sees a Festival Walk into the West Woods; Sarsens, Soldiers and Sawpits. Two free fringe events, an Americana band from West Midlands called Rumour, from 2pm at the Three Crowns, and a fresh and lively approach to jazz at St Johnโ€™s Church from 7pm with the Annie Parker Trio.

The final week of the festival sees world-renowned concert pianist, Ida Pellicciolo on Monday 10th June at the Town Hall. Belinda Kirk, world-record holding explorer, researcher and a leading campaigner promoting the benefits of adventure on wellbeing, talks at the Town Hall on Tuesday, along with intrepid Antarctic explorer Tom Creanโ€™s story brought to life in a dramatic and humorous solo performance by Aidan Dooley from Play On Words Theatre Company, at the Wharf Theatre.

Two best-selling Wiltshire-based authors, Kate Webb and Jon Stock, discuss their craft at The Peppermill Hotel on Wednesday 12th June, and thereโ€™s a remarkable intimate solo guitar performance from Martin Simpson at the Corn Exchange.

Duo Tutti, a classically-trained flutist and pianist duo who combine well-known classical tunes with interesting sounds to create a unique concert that is accessible to all, at the Town Hall on Thursday. Terry Quinneyโ€™s Sound Of Blue Note accurately recreates jazz and the aesthetics which defines Blue Note Records, also on Thursday 13th June at the Town Hall.

Friday 14th June thereโ€™s an organ recital at St Johnโ€™s with award-winning organist and conductor Huw Williams, and we have the intriguingly titled Slambovian Circus of Dreams at the Corn Exchange, an electrifying live performance of moody but upbeat alt-roots rock.

The final Saturday of the Arts Festival, 15th June, we have something altogether different, hypnotist Matt Hale presents an 80s Spectacular, where Matt promises to have you partying like itโ€™s 1985, humm, whether you like it or not. Iโ€™m not sure about hypnotists, I might stand at the back!

Matt Hale. Image: DG-Imagery-3

Soulful and electrifying rhythm and blues band The Junco Shakers at the The British Lion on

Sunday 16th June at 2pm, and Clive Oseman and Nick Lovell, creators of Oooh Beehive, the number one spoken word and poetry open-mic night in Swindon, have a Wham! Bam! Poetry Slam 6pm at The Wharf Theatre; two free fringe events polishing off another spectacular Devizes Arts Festival. 

Box Office is now open, details and tickets HERE, hope to see you there!ย 

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Corbyn and Sultana’s Your Party Launch Swindon Presence

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Crowned Lightbringer: New EP From Ruby Darbyshire

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Swindon Palestine Solidarity Host Summer Fete

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Stranglers Frontman Hugh Cornwell Coming To Cheese & Grain

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Talk in Code Announces New Single; More Than Friends

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“Glasshouse” at The Mission Theatre, Bath, July 21st 2025

by Mick Brian With Sandcastles Productions marking its debut production with Charlie McGuireโ€™s original play Glass House, the cast and crew behind this production are clearly anything but inexperienced as the piece delivers its thrills and emotional beats at every turn. What Glass Houseย ultimately delivers is a play packed with fascinating questions about the nature ofโ€ฆ

REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festival โ€“ Hawes & Catlow @ St Andrews, Chris Ingham Trio @ Town Hall 15th June 2023

Andy Fawthrop

The Hot & The Cool


Devizes Arts Festival headed towards the end of its second week with a double-dip into the chocolateโ€“box of goodies. At lunchtime we had some hot folk, and in the evening we had cool jazz……

St Andrews was the venue at lunchtime as Kit Hawes (guitar, vocals) and Aaron Catlow (violin, vocals) played an absolutely wonderful set of folk tunes and songs. This was no ordinary duo though โ€“ what we heard was absolutely spell-binding stuff. It was largely fiddle-led instrumentals, supported by a wonderful picked guitar, as the two musicians really leaned into their set. Between songs, the pair were chatty and engaging, charming the audience with their laid-back style. The only thing wrong with their set was that it was too short! However, we could forgive them as the guys had to get away because, following this performance, the duo were due to visit two care homes to meet and perform for the residents, courtesy of the performing music charity, Live Music Now. Absolutely sparkling stuff.

For the evening we moved just across the road to the Assembly Room of The Town Hall for The Chris Ingham Trio and an altogether cooler, more laid-back experience. The trio featured Chris himself on piano, vocals and commentary, with Joe Pettitt on upright bass, and George Double on percussion and (soprano) vocals.

Their programme was based around the jazz compositions of the beloved comic actor Dudley Moore (1935-2002). Whilst being more famous for his comic sketch acting on TV and in films, often with his co-comic Peter Cook, Dudley was also one of the UKโ€™s most dazzling, swinging jazz pianists and a composer of wit and depth. The decision to revisit Mooreโ€™s music in The Jazz Of Dudley Moore, with sounds from the fabulous 1960s Decca trio albums, the TV show โ€œNot Only But Alsoโ€ (1965-70) and the brilliant movie soundtracks for โ€œBedazzledโ€ (1967) and โ€œ30 Is A Dangerous Age, Cynthiaโ€ (1968) was a good one, and it made for an excellent evening of jazz, that was both instructive and thoroughly entertaining.

During the evening we (well definitely me!) learned a lot about Dudley Moore and his life. Moore was a vastly under-rated and prodigious jazz talent. He was a working-class Dagenham boy, which always left him feeling somewhat second-best next to the highly intelligent and Cambridge educated co-conspirators Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett. He felt he could not always communicate as well as his peers, and music was his outlet for his feelings, his desire to love, and his need to be loved (see โ€œLove Me!โ€). There is much melancholy there, and his psychological profile was of a man who was lonely, and whose emotions were fragile. He spent much of his life in therapy of one sort or another. His inner demons drove his manic comedy, his drinking and his womanising. Yet he was possessed of immense personal charm and playfulness.

All of this Chris and the boys attempted to convey in words, and illustrate through the music. Chris could never (in his own words) play piano in exact imitation of Dudley, so the idea was to give โ€œanother run-out to the spirit of the manโ€™s musical styleโ€ โ€“ playful, and committed to swing, often with a bossa nova groove.

Chrisโ€™s commentary between songs was erudite, yet chatty and witty. His playing was spirited, yet sympathetic, as he led the trio through โ€œBedazzledโ€, โ€œCornfieldโ€, โ€œSong For Suzieโ€, โ€œWaterlooโ€, โ€œSad One For Georgeโ€ and many others. A well-deserved encore of โ€œGood-byeeeโ€ simply put the cherry on the cake of a really wonderful evening.

The Devizes Arts Festival continues for only two more days until Saturday 17th June.

Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

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Song of the Week: Snazzback

Wednesday, song of the week time, and itโ€™s some smooth jazz from Bristolโ€™s finest purveyors of looping rhythms and upside down chickens, Snazzback. Stokes Croft Sleep Clinic is from the forthcoming album Ruins Everything, and it gorgeously trickles over halfway, building layers until the evocative vocals of Tlk meld to complete the effect. So incredibly cool Iโ€™m horizontal!

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Devizes Dilemma: FullTone or Scooter Rally?!

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Park Farm; Mantonfest Came to Devizes!

The first Park Farm Festival happened Saturday, it was fabulouso, and in some way Mantonfest came to Devizes; conveniently for me as I had toโ€ฆ

Explosive Minds & ZambaLando: Swindonโ€™s Connection to Afro Latin Funk

Patiently waiting for a good reason to feature ZambaLando, Wiltshireโ€™s premier funksters of Afro-Latino beats, so upon the release of the follow-up album to 2020โ€™s Carry On, off we virtually trot to Swindon for a worthy tropical musical expedition!

If thereโ€™s ever a criticism over Ry Cooperโ€™s nineties Son adventures with the Buena Vista Social Club, itโ€™s usually the style projected was rather outdated, and not in line with the popular sounds of Cuba at the time. Naturally the counter-argument here is advances in music technology arriving in developing worlds often creates much sparser, avant-garde, and radical subgenres within their pop, which to the western worldโ€™s untrained ear can be difficult to differentiate and adopt. So, makes sense for world music bands in Europe and USA to implement a melting pot, fusing styles under blanket terms such as Afro-beat and Afro-Funk.

While I could throw this debate on ZambaLandoโ€™s table, given Carry On is an unconditionally unique and beautiful album, its melting pot is spiced with salsa, merengue, lando, festejo, samba and bossa nova, yet all conveyed in a rather traditional and jazzy fashion, the world is smaller place than it was when Cooper popularised the Buena Vista Social Club, thanks to the internet, and through websites like Bandcamp one can easily backpack the planet virtually and be more aware of current global trends. Iโ€™m pleased to report back, that ZambaLando have stepped it up a colossal โ€œmodernisedโ€ notch with this monthโ€™s newly released Explosive Mind.

As the title suggests, it is such; explosive, with more contemporary offerings than the styles incorporated within Carry On, which if akin to Antรดnio Carlos Jobim, Latino-wise, and Fela Kuti and Tony Allenโ€™s archaic afrobeat originations, Explosive Mind really pushes the boundaries of experimentation, often with the serenest ambient soundscapes, like the track Hay Mi Lando, or exotically dubbed, like Siku Funk, but what is more, from the off, the title track, it comes across with a greater and more wholesome funk tenet; irresistibly danceable and strikingly modern.

It doesnโ€™t lose sight of their roots, though, and pre-subgenres of salsa, merengue, lando, festejo, samba and bossa nova are clearly still present. At times it embraces them fully, as Carry On did, yet at others it plays with them; this makes it the โ€œjourneyโ€ I suggested it is. So, if I expressed how Hay Mi Landos loses you in electronic ambience, it also ingeniously encompasses bossa nova too. Again, the following songs Little Baby and Sorry, are soulfully blessed, yet wouldnโ€™t look out of place of NYPโ€™s Mukambo Global Beats anthologies, which offers only the most contemporary of world music.

Thereโ€™s mellower moments of romantically-themed jazzy blues-fashioned bliss as the album progresses, with masterpieces like Walking Along the River but the finale of this ten-track marvel, Quรฉdate No Te Vayas is precisely the definition of what Iโ€™m trying to convey here; it rocks steady, samba fashion, incorporating up-to-date techniques to present this traditional, magical blend of Latino afro-funk subgenres as something worthy for your modern ears, and it doesnโ€™t try to trick you with complexities of the ever-changing global pop either, just smooths all the way through.

Iโ€™m so pleased ZambaLando have provided this option locally, for their musical multiplicity is a blessing in a somewhat narrowly sundry circuit, and this album presents it in such a sublime way, while they gig prolifically in their hometown, I can imagine this will bring them to wider appeal. If I let you into a secret I might get in trouble for leaking, you wonโ€™t tell, will you?! But on my recommendation, Devizes Arts Festival are in talks with ZambaLando, entreating my passion to get them in playing our humble town, of which Iโ€™m thoroughly grateful for, and this album, Explosive Mind, illustrates exactly why Iโ€™ve such enthusiasm to do this!

Give it a listen this winter, it’ll warm you up cheaper than British Gas will!

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REVIEW โ€“ Jazz Sabbath @ Corn Exchange, Devizes โ€“ Sunday 20th November 2022

You wait for one to come alongโ€ฆ.

by Andy Fawthrop

After Saturdayโ€™s double-header at Long Street Blues Club with the Alex Voysey Trio and Hardwicke Circus, there was hardly time to draw breath on this exciting musical weekend.ย  A quick shift from the Con Club to The Corn Exchange, and there we were on a rare Sunday night out.ย  Yesterday evening D-Town hosted Jazz Sabbath as part of their UK tour, a date long in the calendar thanks to the forward thinking of Paul Chandlerโ€™s Longcroft Productions.…..

Iโ€™m sure Paul had been hoping for a somewhat larger audience to pack out the Corn Exchange, but there were still plenty enough people there to enjoy the club-style layout of dimly-lit tables and a sparsely-lit stage.  And the quality of the music provided was absolutely top-notch.

First up in the Support slot was London-based Billy Watman, who turned out to be an absolute wizz on the guitar.ย  Having spent his training in classical and flamenco styles, Billy treated us to an absolute master-class in how to get every sound possible out of his instrument.ย  With the occasional use of loops and pedals, he laid down his own backing tracks before playing some of the most virtuoso acoustic guitar work that Iโ€™ve seen or heard in a very long.ย  Explaining what he was doing as he went along, in modest and understated style, he laid out fingerstyle versions of Back To Black, Boney Mโ€™s Rasputin and even Pink Floydโ€™s Brick In The Wall.ย  This guy was massively proficient โ€“ thereโ€™s just no other way to put it.ย  He had the audience on side right from the get-go.ย  In fact there was only one thing wrong with his set โ€“ it was simply too damned short at only 20 minutes.ย  Iโ€™m pretty sure the audience would have liked a lot more.ย  Great stuff.

After the interval, and before the main act took the stage, we were treated toโ€ฆ.a film!  A short docu-style item, featuring many celebrities, setting up the myth of the band doing their first gigs for 53 years!  (If you go onto their website you can read all the spoof material for yourself).  The joke/ conceit was maintained throughout the evening with further bits of film, and Adam himself pretending to be an 84-year old (heโ€™s actually 48, just be clear).

I donโ€™t know โ€“ you wait for years for a Black Sabbath tribute band to play in D-Town, and then two of them come along in a matter of a few weeks (Black Sabbitch played here only a month ago).  And then they were on stage.  Jazz Sabbath featured Adam Wakeman, son of Rick Wakeman, keyboards, Dylan Howe, son of Alan Howe on drums and Jack Tustin (son of his parents Iโ€™m sure), on upright bass.

The whole idea was to produce jazz interpretations of Black Sabbath classics.  Sounds mad, but it wasnโ€™t.  Adam has cut his teeth working for many years both with Black Sabbath, and with Ozzy Osborneโ€™s Band, so heโ€™s pretty familiar with the heavy metal basic material.  However his arrangements were an almost unrecognisable world away, and lots of the material was Adamโ€™s own contemporary compositions.  This was very little Sabbath, and very much Jazz.

The two sets, apart from the spoof interruptions, were confident, laid-back, melodic and highly enjoyable.ย  Adam himself, taking the lead on piano, did all the talking.ย  It was uncanny to see him sitting in exactly the same place as his father Rick had done almost four years ago when he played the same stage with his KGB band. The audience, who were soon into both the music and the comedic wrap-around, were attentive and appreciative.ย  There was a richly deserved encore, and the crowd hit the streets happy, having been royally entertained.

And just time for a general shout out to all those who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this gig happen, and to transform the barn of the Corn Exchange into a warm welcoming club atmosphere โ€“ from the sound guys, the stage setting/ lighting, the table lay-outs โ€“ a perfect backdrop for some great music.  This is the sort of gig that helps to put D-Town on the UK musical map, and further proof that the town can punch above its weight in terms of musical quality.  The gig was a bit of a (financial) risk, and whilst it might not have entirely paid off, it was nevertheless (musically at least) an absolute triumph.  Maybe the tickets were a bit expensive?  Maybe folks donโ€™t like going out on Sunday nights?  Who knows?  But this sort of gig needs all our support.

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REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festivalโ€“ Darius Brubeck Quartet @ The Corn Exchange 22nd June 2022

โ€œNiceโ€

Andy Fawthrop

The Devizes Arts Festival rolls on, and I was just thinking that it was high time that we had some proper jazz in the programme. To satisfy this so-far unfilled gap, DAF had managed to secure the services of top-notch international outfit The Darius Brubeck Quartet. Darius, of course, is the son of the famous Dave Brubeck.

Looking and sounding somewhat bemused to find themselves in the heart of rural Wiltshire, and a long way from the fleshpots of that there London, the band turned up smartly booted and suited, glad to be out on the road again playing the music that they love.

Darius himself is an American jazz pianist, composer, author and retired professor residing in the UK. Paying tribute to his fatherโ€™s music in the jazz masterโ€™s centenary year, Darius had teamed up with saxophonist Dave Oโ€™Higgins, bassist Matt Ridley and drummer Wesley Gibbens. Not surprisingly, this was their Devizes debut, after playing critically acclaimed international tours and sold-out shows at major jazz houses in London.

The concert included Dariusโ€™s own compositions, some pieces influenced by and written by his South African students, as well as some well-loved Dave Brubeck hits, culminating in probably the most recognisable piece of the evening: the sublime โ€œTake Fiveโ€.

Darius himself, quietly spoken, dapper and urbane, introduced each piece. The quartetโ€™s mutual understanding and interaction was much in evidence, each musician contributing in laid-back fashion, and giving respectful musical breathing space to the others. Each piece was a delight, clear and unfussy, providing a concert that was certainly โ€œcoolโ€ and, in the words of Louis Balfour of The Fast Show โ€œniceโ€. As might have been expected, Dariusโ€™ piano and Daveโ€™s saxophone were very much to the fore in most of the pieces, although there was time for both bass and drum solos.

Overall a very enjoyable evening listening to jazz of the highest calibre.

The Devizes Arts Festival continues for the next few days until 25th June at various venues across town. Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at http://www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

REVIEW โ€“ Devizes Arts Festival FREE FRINGE โ€“Florian Felcitta @ Three Crowns 19th June 2022

Superb Talent In The Afternoon

Andy Fawthrop

Another day, and yet another Arts Festival presentation at a different D-Town venue. This afternoon it was the turn of The Three Crowns to host a Free Fringe presentation in their wonderful courtyard. And what a delicious Sunday afternoon treat it was.….

Florian Felcitta is a young man who, in my mind at least, is going places. An extremely accomplished guitarist, who plays modern folk/ gypsy/ jazz, gave an absolute masterclass in how to engage and entertain a Sunday afternoon audience. Modest, self-deprecating, and thoroughly charming to boot, he worked his way through two superb sets of material. With no vocals, but merely relying on his sheer artistry of the guitar strings to produce accomplished instrumental versions of some great pop and rock tunes, the performance was absolutely captivating. Challenging his audience from the outset to effectively โ€œname that tuneโ€, he largely lost his ยฃ1000 per tune bets as his listeners homed in on the key melodies. We had hits from Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Ed Sheeran, Django Reinhardt, Michael Jackson, Guns & Roses, Tom Petty and many others. But absolutely like youโ€™ve never heard them before.

His guitar skills were superb. Aided by a modest use of loops and pedals, which he never allowed to dominate, he managed to produce a beautiful and very laid-back performance. The audience, despite being in the middle of a very busy pub serving lunches, were never distracted and paid full attention to every song and every introduction. It was stripped back, it was accomplished, and it was very, very good indeed. Hopefully weโ€™ll see and hear much more of this wonderful artist in the future. Iโ€™m old and cynical, and not easily impressed these days, but this performance was absolutely spot-on. Highly recommended.

And, yet again, well done to DAF for putting this event on. The fact that it was FREE was just the icing on the cake!

The Devizes Arts Festival continues every day until 25th June at various venues across town. Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

Manton Fest Reveal 2022 Line-Up

Drizzle couldnโ€™t prevent MantonFest from being one of my fondest memories of last year. Thereโ€™s a real community-feel to this honourable little festival, yet it prevails professionalism aside itโ€™s cheery atmosphere. Enough for me to label it โ€œa gem in Marlboroughโ€™s event calendarโ€ last time; letโ€™s see whatโ€™s in store this year, as organisers announce dates and line-up for 2022โ€ฆ.

Set for Saturday 25th June this time, headlining are seminal rhythm & blues band, Animals & Friends, which boasts original Animals drummer John Steel, and keyboardist Mick Gallagher, who joined The Animals in 1965, replacing Alan Price, and is perhaps best known as a founding member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

Returning to MantonFest after a five year gap, Animals & Friends still command great respect internationally amongst their peers, as well as from fans of all ages who instinctively respond so enthusiastically to such pivotal songs from The Animals catalogue such as ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’, ‘Boom Boom’, ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’, ‘Baby, Let Me Take You Home’, ‘I Put A Spell On You’ and the bands’ multi-million selling anthem and Number One hit across the world, ‘House of The Rising Sun’.

Also appearing with an astounding rรฉsumรฉ for a tribute act, 1993โ€™s creation of John Mainwaring and John Ford, Jean Genie, has a founding in the very person itโ€™s attributing, Bowie, of course. An original recording artist in his own right, John Mainwaring has been signed by numerous record companies throughout his career, twice with Warner Bros. In the 1980s David Bowie’s world-famous producer Tony Visconti produced some of John’s songs when he was signed to WEA.

Not forgoing work with Jarvis Cocker and Tony Christie, co-writing and recording Beverley Callard’s work-out fitness DVD, John is currently signed to Bucks Music Publishers for his original material, and, more apt for the role, in the late 1990s John was approached by ‘The Spiders from Mars,’ asking if he’d front the band and tour with them. Has to be said, itโ€™s a rare thing for a tribute to have toured and performed with the original artist’s band.

Barrelhouse

Marlboroughโ€™s own and MantonFest favourites, Barrelhouse are returning. With a penchant for vintage blues, I was mightily impressed with Barrelhouse las year, very nearly dropping my hotdog, blending their original material with classic blues covers so you couldnโ€™t see the seam. Promoting a new live CD, theyโ€™re a winner every time.

Another act, another tribute. One which Iโ€™m sure will be welcomed with open arms by the MantonFest crowd, Nottingham-based Beatles tribute band, The Fab4. Formed thirty-two years ago, theyโ€™re renowned for using classic sound equipment, much the same gear as the Beatles, to get that authentic sound, and were the first band invited to play at the Paul McCartney Auditorium at the Liverpool institute of Performing Arts.

Compelling and daring, former Purson singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, from Southend, Rosalie Cunningham is also on the line-up, whose 2019 debut solo album earned a Top 10 placing in the UKโ€™s official independent chart. Along with local acts Dangerous Kitchen, a four-piece rock band, acoustic and electric band covers trio, @59, Adam Ford, Eddie Witcomb and LLoyd Crabb as Kotonic, and Mantonโ€™s very own semi-acoustic blues, jazz and soul crossover group, Skedaddle.

@59

So, yeah, this variety, mostly rock, blues and soul one-dayer shindig, comes highly recommended by yours truly. Gates open at 11am on Saturday 25th June, and advance tickets have just gone online, for ยฃ35 until 15th June, ยฃ40 afterwards. Child tickets are a fiver, under 7โ€™s go free, youth tickets are ยฃ15. This year people can book a plot for a campervan for ยฃ20, or a gazebo pitch for ยฃ10, payable on the day at the gate.

With an assortment of food and drinks stalls, picnics and bring your own booze are still welcomed, in this overall fantastically friendly festie overlooked by the beautiful surroundings of Treacle Brolly near Marlborough, itโ€™s walking distance into town; what more do you want? Well, Iโ€™d like to see Blondie tribute Dirty Harry from last year; see if I can get her phone number this time; epic fail due to cider last attempt!

There she is, see? Shouting out to me, “don’t call me, go home, you’re drunk!”

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Running with a Timid Deer

An absolutely spellbinding new electronica jazz-blues single out this week, of which Iโ€™d expect nothing less from what I believe to be one of Wiltshireโ€™s most underrated bands, Salisburyโ€™s Timid Deer, and produced by the brilliant Jason Allen.

With a grand piano opening, their evocative part-indie-part-trip hop ambience is accomplished to a new standard here, with Naomi Henstridgeโ€™s both soothing yet haunting vocals embracing howling strings and, wow, this rolling piano. Itโ€™s reflective of nineties nu-cool, the brilliance of Morcheeba or Portishead, yet without so much inspired of acid jazz or trip hop to make it clichรฉ, rather itโ€™s owning this refreshing edge to appeal to the more guitar-laced indie fans, too.

Run, their first single since Februaryโ€™s Crossed Wires, and they never cease to amaze me. This is cooler than the climate outside, just beautiful. โ€œHere’s something we’ve been working on for what feels like an age,โ€ Timid Deer say, finishing by saying theyโ€™re aiming for a new EP early in New Year, and for some Salisbury gigs, but I say no, please gig organisers, letโ€™s get these guys aiming much further afield too; we need to see you in Devizes (Deborah Bufton Barnett, Ian Hopkins and Phil Moakes, Iโ€™m talking to you, make my Christmas wish come true!) Trowbridge, (Mr Moore) too!

And yes, Find Timid Deer with 45 other amazing artists on our 4 Julia’s House Compilation by clicking here!

Trending….

Clock Radio Turf Out The Maniacs

The first full album by Wiltshireโ€™s finest purveyors of psychedelic indie shenanigans, Clock Radio, was knocked out to an unsuspecting world last week. Itโ€™s calledโ€ฆ

Seend to get Jazzy!

If Iโ€™ve been bragging about trekking to Trow-Vegas this weekend for musical indulgence, next weekend you donโ€™t even need to journey that far to get a dosage, just that direction…..

Halfway house, the lovely village of Seend, with its wonderful Community Centre on the Green hosts a roaring twenties jazz party, next Saturday (20th November.) ย And what was an ยฃ11 ticket stub is free, if you share and tag your friends in this here Facebook post. Each friend tagged will gain you an entry into the prize draw – the more friends tagged, the greater the chance of winning (Terms and conditions apply.)

A Bristol-based ragtime jazz band, Trip For Biscuits, with Charlie Minty offering a Charleston dance workshop, this roaring evening will transport you back to the 1920’s, an era of speakeasies, prohibition and feather boas, and DJ Meaze will then be on hand to keep the party going until late.

Fancy Dress is also encouraged to get everyone in the mood, and 1920’s Cocktails and Nibbles will be available to purchase on the evening. Tickets are here. “Awl, applesauce!”ย 

Trending…..

Thieves Debut EP

Adam Woodhouse, Rory Coleman-Smith, Jo Deacon and Matt Hughes, aka Thieves, the wonderful local folk vocal harmony quartet of uplifting bluegrass into country-blues has aโ€ฆ

Nought to 60 with the Near Jazz Experience

Fooled by my own fool proof system must make me more of a fool than I give myself credit for. It’s an elderly memory malfunction thing, becoming commonplace. Like my lockdown skinhead idea. Skinheads fair as well as a bobcat on us elderly, what with hair sprouting from ears.

The ingenious strategy to create a word document called “albums which need reviewing” botched by forgetting Iโ€™d previous had the same plan and executed it, leaving me with two documents of the same idea differing information. So it goes, like a historic homework excuse, on the previous version I’d simply typed “NJE,” without the usual brief explanation, thinking that’ll warrant me not forgetting this. Rather, I’d forget the whole document and started from scratch, leaving me oblivious to what NJE was supposed to mean upon rediscovering it.

Abbreviation resolved, โ€˜twas the Near Jazz Experience mini-album โ€œNought to 60,โ€ overlooked since June; I stated my defence and Iโ€™m sticking by it. Annoying thing is, as anything with the name Terry Edwards attached to it, itโ€™s smoothing right up my street and blowing a saxophone loudly at my front door.

Near Jazz Experience sees Terry team up with Higsons bandmate Simon Charterton and Mark Bedford from Madness. Names on the tin, you get four lengthy modern jazz pieces of rapture, reminding me somewhat of Herbie Hancockโ€™s Headhunters, in a mod style. Remember throughout; brass is class.

The opening ten minute-plus master-jam of cool, Spirit of Indo, pays homage to the London pub birthplace of the NJE, where they played a monthly residency for nine years. Like ambient afro-funk or cumbia itโ€™s got that deep loop running through it, Bedders programmed, Simon embellished the groove, and Terry added the toplines, sliding effortlessly from one horn to another, as is his wont. Thereโ€™s a real sense of improv here, and it spellbinds you to groove, man.

The second tune is a moving tribute to David Bowie, an instrumental cover of Five Years, and Simonโ€™s minimalist cymbal-work sustains this fragile melodica melody, it tingles the very innermost of your soul.

The tempo moves up one notch, for the third track, Tizita, and I immediately call in the spirit of New Mexico jazz with this almost tin solider drum, rolling over the top, yet a little research reveals this is inspired by Ethiopian jazz-legend Mulatu Astatke, who Terry had the pleasure of working with a few years back.

Shows you how much I know, but I do know what I like, and me causing to ponder the wonder of Miles Davisโ€™ influence, as the finale title track builds in layers to funk, seventies cop show score fashion, with Terryโ€™s sax just freestyling over Teutonic beats on electronic Wave drum, and a Motorik bassline, itโ€™s some seriously cool jazz; very nice indeed, though expected, just annoyed with myself it got mislaid in my inbox till now. Ah well, better late than never.

Very Terry Edwards

The word โ€œvery,โ€ rarely an adjective, as in โ€œit happened in this very house,โ€ or โ€œthis is very Terry Edwards,โ€ but commonly worthlessly used as an adverb, as in โ€œitโ€™s very cold today,โ€ or โ€œthis is the very best of Terry Edwards.โ€ While the album simplifies it to the ambiguous โ€œVery Terry Edwards,โ€ itโ€™s BandCamp page suggests, โ€œThe Very Best of Very Terry Edwards,โ€ which though itโ€™s exactly what it is, itโ€™s also one adverb enough for the most lenient of proof-readerโ€™s red line. Yet, if the usage of very is erm, very worthless, it is the only thing on this album which is.

The multi-instrumentalist, best known for trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophone, guitar and keys, marked his sixtieth birthday last September releasing this three-CD best-of box set, and while I shouldโ€™ve mentioned it last month, between putting batteries in toys and stuffing myself with pigs in blankets things got tardy. Right now, though, I can think of no better outstanding project to kick off our music reviews for 2021. Reason only partly because it ticks all my personal favourite genre boxes, more so because of the range of said genres is far greater than run-of-the-mill best of compilations.

We need to assess Terryโ€™s biography to understand the reason for this variety. Funky punk and second-gen ska most obvious, as from 1980 he was a founding member of Two-Tone signed band The Higsons, after graduating with a degree in music. But around that time Terry also produced and played on the Yeah Jazzโ€™s debut album, of whom, despite the name, were particularly folk-rock.

Terry in 1984

From here the vastness of Terryโ€™s repertoire blossoms, as session musician for a huge range of acts, from Madness to Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and The Jesus and Mary Chain to, particularly notable, The Blockheads. As well as his solo material, with his band The Scapegoats and a stint with dark punk-blues outfit Gallon Drunk, itโ€™s understandable collating this in one reminiscent anthology is a mammoth task and a melting pot. Which is just what youโ€™re getting for your money, a very, as the grammatical disorderly title suggests, worthy melting pot.

โ€œWhen the earliest recording here was made the 18-year-old me couldnโ€™t comprehend being 60,โ€ Terry explained, โ€œyet here I am presenting a triple album containing 60 titles recorded between 1979 and 2020, through thick and thin.โ€ Therefore, it must be more tongue-in-cheek than Iโ€™d suspect Roger Daltreyโ€™s notion now of My Generationโ€™s lyrics that for the opening track he opted for The Higsonsโ€™ โ€œWe Will Never Grow Old.โ€

โ€œYouโ€™d expect an overview of my career to have some odd bedfellows and more than its share of quirks and foibles,โ€ he continued, โ€œbut itโ€™s been compiled to flow musically rather than have a chronological narrative.โ€

That said, the first four tunes from his original band follow, with all their fervent rawness. Terry covered his tracks though, โ€œI immediately break my own rules by starting with The Higsonsโ€™ earliest release and debut single, but redeem myself by following up with the most recent recordings; two ballads recorded with Paul Cuddeford (Ian Hunter, Holy Holy) in February 2020. There is more method than madness; groups of songs which follow a theme or genre are found together regardless of when theyโ€™re from.โ€ Indeed, weโ€™re then treated to three tunes in a matured, mellowing jazz and blues, the latter of which with the vocally perfected Erika Stucky.

Then weโ€™re into rock with The Wolfhounds, and a guitar-twanging Christmas blues song with Robyn Hitchcock, plodding jazz with Knife & Fork, post-punk Big Joan, avant-garde jazz with Spleen and rockabilly styled New York New York. While mostly jazz-related, this first disc graduates through genres with finesse.

Terry is like Georgie Fame with a Mohican, but whatever avenue is explored, you can guarantee quality. The second CD starts with a bang, upbeat mod-jazz with The Scapegoats. Thereโ€™re more known covers here, sublimely executed Herbie Hancockโ€™s Watermelon Man, a superb solo rendition of The Cureโ€™s Friday Iโ€™m in Love, as if Robert Smith wore a Fred Perry, and a hard-rock electronica version of Johnny Kiddโ€™s Shakin all Over with the haunting vocals of Lisa Ronson. Even find an orchestral film score, and a piano solo of the knees-up capitalโ€™s favourite, May Itโ€™s Because Iโ€™m a Londoner.

Yet if both the quantity and quality on offer here is so vast to make me waffle, it doesnโ€™t waiver for the final disc, rather itโ€™s my favourite. A BBC session outtake of a jazzy Voodoo Chile, with altered title to โ€œChild.โ€ Dunno, canโ€™t be a typo, the dedication to attributing to Hendrixโ€™s masterpiece is no easy feat, lest it be known Terry manages it with awesomeness dexterity, with a saxophone!

If the last CD continues with on a jazz tip for two tunes, weโ€™re transported to ska via John Holtโ€™s Ali Baba by Lee Thompsonโ€™s Ska Orchestra and other sundry members of Madness, and Totally Wired by Terryโ€™s โ€œSka All Stars,โ€ and more ska-jazz with Rhoda Dakar. Post-punk follows, featuring The Nightingales with Vic Goddard, Snuff, Glen Matlock and Gallon Drunk. Perhaps my favourite parts being the shouty cover of The Human Leaguesโ€™ โ€œDonโ€™t you Want Me Baby,โ€ by Serious Drinking, and the general dilapidation of seriousness with new wave tunes mirroring the unsubtlety of Ian Dury & The Blockheads.

Hereโ€™s a jam-packed box-set brimming with variety which flows suitably and makes a definitive portfolio of a particularly prolific and proficient musician. For many itโ€™ll hold fond memories, for younger, who think Kate Nash created the cockney chat-rap, or jazz wasnโ€™t the same until Jamie Cullum came along, itโ€™s a history lesson theyโ€™ll never forget!

This 60th birthday, 60 track-strong celebration spans over four decades. A triple CD clamshell boxset with 24-page booklet, but more importantly they say, โ€œVery Terry Edwards is a birthday present to himself as much as anything else,โ€ giving it the impression youโ€™re on a personal journey, like a child sitting on their grandpaโ€™s lap while he recites memoirs, blinking exciting ones!

Buy from Rough Trade: ยฃ15.99 or BandCamp: ยฃ15 or ยฃ8 digital.

Just a Mirrorball; Auralcandy New Single With Sienna Wileman

If weโ€™ve had a keen eye on Swindonโ€™s Sienna Wilemanโ€™s natural progression as an upcoming singer-songwriter since being introduced to her self-penned songs via her father Richard Wileman some years ago, her songs have always reflected her dadโ€™s penchant for combining curious and experimental soundscapes with acoustic vibes. Working with the more rhythm-driven Auralcandy thisโ€ฆ

You; Lucas Hardy Teams With Rosie Jay

One of Salisburyโ€™s most celebrated acoustic folk-rock singer-songwriters Lucas Hardy teams up with the Wiltshire cityโ€™s upcoming talent who’s name is on everyoneโ€™s lips, Rosie Jay, for a charming Sunday morning ballad called Youโ€ฆ.. Ah, newfound love, I remember it well! That ray of peerless positivity, like a sunbeam which cannot be clouded; nothing canโ€ฆ

Progress Made for the Wiltshire Music Awards

A week into the voting process for the Wiltshire Music Awards and things have been moving forward fast. Weโ€™ve had the best part of 500 voting forms already submitted and weโ€™re busy spreading the news about these new awardsโ€ฆ The voting process for the Wiltshire Music Awards went live on the 1st May, and ifโ€ฆ

Bands At The Bridge

Organised by Kingston Media – to raise money for Dorothy House and Wiltshire Air Ambulance – the 3rd of May saw Bands At The Bridge come to the Bridge Inn, Horton … With the sun peeking out and the rain clouds temporarily parting I had the opportunity to head on down to Bands on Theโ€ฆ

Phil Cooper is Playing Solitaire

Trowbridge singer-songwriter and one third of The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper has actually been doing more than playing solitaire, heโ€™s released a new solo album called Playing Solitaireโ€ฆ.. Released yesterday (2nd May) Playing Solitaire is Philโ€™s first solo album in five years. The last being These Revelation Games in 2020, which was a varied bunchโ€ฆ

Voting Now Open for the Wiltshire Music Awards

The voting process for the Wiltshire Music Awards goes live today; there might be some other voting thing going on too, but this is far more important! In conjunction with Wiltshire Music Events UK, Iโ€™m delighted Devizine will be actively assisting to organise this new county-wide music awards. Weโ€™ve mentioned it a few times now,โ€ฆ

Theatre Review: Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie by Devizes Music Academy

An effervescent musical, full of promising young talent Written by: Melissa Loveday Images by: Gail Foster After the success of SIX last year, Devizes Music Academy is beginning to make a name for itself with its second musical production, Everybodyโ€™s Talking About Jamie, which featured two electrifying performances on 19th April at Devizes Schoolโ€ฆ. Andโ€ฆ

Is This Calne Reform Candidate Violette Simpson?

A photo is circulating on X of Calne’s Reform UK candidate Violette Simpson, which for some reason doesn’t appear on her election campaign….I wonder why? Just to clear up any confusion, she’s the one with the gun. According to Calne News Violette Simpson, the Reform UK candidate for Calne Central, has been criticised for describingโ€ฆ

Devizes Palooza DJ on the Bill for Fatboy Slimโ€™s All Back to Minehead

Big congratulations to Devizes DJ Greg Spencer this week, the creator of Palooza house nights at The Exchange nightclub, for he made the prestigious bill of Fatboy Slimโ€™s All Back to Minehead festival in November at Butlins; we have to celebrate him, baby, and praise him like we should! Palooza launched in March last year,โ€ฆ

Island Bop with Shuffle & Bang

San Diego, California, 2018, King Pops Horn and son, Korey Kingston began on a musical partnership, merging Koreyโ€™s deep vested love for dub and reggae with his fatherโ€™s tenure as a decorated traditional jazz singer.

Gathering a gang of musicians with resumes including savvy veterans from The Aggrolites, Rhythm Doctors, Suedehead, Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Original Wailers, Stevie Wonder and a pianist who plays organ for the San Diego Padres baseball team, they formed Shuffle & Bang.

Over multiple recording sessions taking two years, this unique musical journey culminated in an accomplished album, Island Bop. Pirates Press Records, partnered with the bandโ€™s own Jetsetter Records are ready to deliver this gem to the world on 6th November; everything about it suggests itโ€™s right up my street and banging loudly on my door.

And it is, and it is loud. Dressed as a classic Blue Note jazz album, with indistinct band-in-action photo and simple capitalised font running down the left side, it comes exceptionally close to capturing the elegance of an era of definitive jazz and soul. Yet it drifts wildly between genres, a surprise to know whatโ€™s coming next in many ways, but often, perhaps, constituting a Jack-of-all-trades.

I mean this in the nicest way possible, to hit the benchmarks of such legendary epochs, to come close to all the variety of influences represented here in one shebang, from Blue Note to Stax and Studio One, is quite near impossible. You got to hand it to them for trying. For all it is worth, it is accomplished, highly polished and grand. Itโ€™s exceedingly entertaining and highly danceable, to boot! Just donโ€™t let the cover art allow to run off with the idea youโ€™ve stumbled upon a new Marvin Gayeโ€™s Whatโ€™s Going on.

At all times, no matter what subgenre itโ€™s mimicking, itโ€™s brash but not slapdash, flamboyant and proud. Thereโ€™s minimal subtly of soul, delicately tight riffs of ska, and to cast it overall is to say it is akin to big band, as itโ€™s in your face and wonโ€™t let you escape, even if you wanted to, which, you probably wouldnโ€™t. Big Band does jump blues, ska, soul, and even by the end, dub reggae.

Yep, you heard it right; it ticks all the boxes. The opening song is a deep acapella with a booming Teddy Pendergrass fashioned soul voice, whereas the second sets the running theme as this big band panache. Taking the jazz end of a classic ska sound, the third tune dragged me onto the dancefloor, or my kitchen lino to be more precise; yep, Iโ€™m reviewing while washing the dishes again!

Switching back to Cab Calloway big band groove for a fifth song, it is perhaps the next which is most interesting to date, Naima maintains a big band style but serves it with a rock steady riff. Quickly as it does it, it shifts again, onto a shuffle rhythm with some killer horns, more Louis Jordan than T-Bone Walker.

Within the thirteen strong songs, the whole album is showy and that makes it rather magnificently inimitable, and because of this running big band ethos incorporating all the various styles, at no time does it jerk into an alternative genre, shudder the goalposts, rather surprisingly, they flow all rather splendidly.

It gets unpremeditated and rides the Ratpack train, with beguiling vocal gorgeousness, When I Take My Sugar to Tea, particularly, or a take of traditional ska like the Skatalites, but the next tune might again return to up-tempo swing. Given our Louis Jordan reference, the only recognisable cover is his Tympany Fiveโ€™s Let the Good Times Roll, at least you think it is, until the end song.

If you figured this cover might act as a grand finale, prepare, because after a drum and cymbal interlude, the groove suddenly and without warning dubs. Yep, true dat; with a deep rolling bass and reverbs akin to King Tubby, and perhaps melodica to impersonate Augustus Pablo, we are treated to a divine dub of the Gorillazโ€™s Clint Eastwood. Although theyโ€™re calling it Drum Song.

The culmination forces you to hardly recognise the style at the beginning of the album, and to return to it might make you think, no, I want to go listen to some Sly & Robbie now instead. However, Island Bop will rest accustomed in a jazz, blues, soul or reggae record collection, and you will return to its gorgeous portrayals. For all its swapping and merging, yes, Island Bop is hard to pin down, but for eclectic jazz and soul fans, its refreshingly experimental and a damn good groove!

The Instrumental Sounds Of Ruzz Guitarโ€™s Blues Revue, While Washing Up!

Who says men can’t multitask? I’m washing up and reviewing this forthcoming musical extravaganza…..

Ruling in my household, being the better-half does the majority of cooking, I therefore wash-up. And on sporadic occasions I cook, I still do the washing up. I know what youโ€™re thinking; under the thumb, Worrow. I beg to differ, family are watching some revamped eighties game show; squeamishly sickening the first time around, or else a bronze lady of all teeth and earrings, in a buttery summer dress is assisting affluent chavs to relocate to a Mediterranean costa.

Meanwhile, Iโ€™m preparing my chore. First task is not to clear the drainer of previously cleaned utensils, that comes after I Bluetooth my phone to the soundbar. Firmly of the belief washing up should be done to music, and such a law should be implemented nationally.

Those completed, time to fill the sink with hot water and Fairy. Cheaper varieties a no-brainer, you use twice as much for the same effect. Much like my choice of music, others donโ€™t have the same clout. For retrospective genres, such as rock n roll, today largely consists of wishy-washy tributes and anodyne honours of a once dicey outrageous bravura. Else thereโ€™s a disturbing scene fusing techno with swing to revamp classics which really donโ€™t need or desire the wonky attention.

Let me be the first, I suspect, to compare Ruzz Guitarโ€™s Blues Revue to Fairy washing-up liquid. But if you want the job of recreating the true spirit of bygone blues styles done properly, accept no substitute. Add equal amount of Fairy as needed with a cheaper alternative and youโ€™ve got an Ibiza foam party in your kitchen.

Iโ€™ve got an advance copy of their instrumental album, โ€˜The Instrumental Sounds Ofโ€ฆโ€™ not due for release until 6th December, but ready for pre-order; I strongly suggest you do. Because hereโ€™s a Bristol-based rockabilly/blues trio, with three-piece horn section, who encompass everything once rousing and electrifying about musical styles ranging from jazz to rock n roll, originally, and with a benchmark of contemporary quality.

While Ruzzโ€™s singing is passable, the guitar is his true calling; Gretsch agrees and endorses this, if you donโ€™t take someone chained to the kitchen sinkโ€™s word for it. In genres such as these, where one imagines and perceives the vocals to hold a deep Mississippi accent, to hear his Bristol enunciation is novel, but unusual. Ruzz Guitarโ€™s Blues Revue have the astounding ability to stretch a song to the proportions of a space-rock band like Pink Floyd, but retain the frenzy of traditional rock n roll, which would once be over within three minutes. At that point, though, itโ€™s nice to simmer it with occasional vocals, but itโ€™s not their forte.

Here then, is what they do best; concentrated instrumentals, a collection of musical styles, based within the blues, that have influenced Ruzz throughout his career. A project Ruzz has been wanting to do, and lockdown has provided the time. Iโ€™m strutting across the kitchen, shoving plates and utensils roughly back in the cupboards they belong in, while contemplating how I didnโ€™t fully appreciate my dadโ€™s obsession with the Shadows. For their instrumental goodness mayโ€™ve gone over my adolescent head, at the time. But this is a blinding upbeat opening tune, Hold Fast, with remnants of The Shadows’ slide-guitar. Yet itโ€™s blaring horns make it like Hank, et al were in a big band.

Now to the main task, wrist-deep in foamy water Iโ€™m timely scrubbing with brillo-pad, like the ivory of a boogie-woogie piano. Swing Thing maintains big band, but slides neatly into swing. Itโ€™s spectacularly captivating.

Three tunes in and itโ€™s mellowed to a sax ballad with Hawaiian guitar riff. Longing to See You drifts, as I causally dip dinner plates into their foam bath, and caress them as if theyโ€™re sun-kissed skin of a beautiful seรฑorita! The Instrumentals Of album strides jazzily, continuing with a slight nod to that tropical guitar on the fourth track. But this is shrewdly quirky and experimental, Ruffled Up is as if Miles Davis joined a big band.

So many influences but so meshed itโ€™s hard to pick it apart and balance washed up items on the draining board. Men can multitask, believe it. Now Iโ€™m striding, Clint Eastwood style, to obtain a tea towel dumped on the breadbin like it was a six shooter. Duel at High Noon is as perceived by title; Ennio Morricone influenced Shadows.

Heating up back at the sink with some fiery jump blues to make Louis Jordan blush. Jump In does what it says on the tin; I’m doing Chuck Berry legs, rattling those pots and pans like glam rock never happened.

Mambo takes a hit next, Ruzz-style, added funk. Spag Mambo is like Starsky & Hutch doing the Charleston on a Cuban vacation. Gotta go barehand; Iโ€™d look stupid doing jazz hands with marigolds, but Swing G-String is swing firing on all cylinders. Dishes done; I’m jitterbugging the sides down, soggy J-cloth in hand.

Opportunity to clear waste from the plug hole, never an appealing part of the process, nevertheless Iโ€™m cool; Soulful Blues made it so. Itโ€™s equably soul-blues, Ruby Turner could drop vocals, but it never strays from its ethos, yet saunters wonderfully between the variety of jazz and blues from 1940 to 60. Thereโ€™s one more tune, but the job is completed.

Hammer Down polishes with dirty, deep Mississippi jump blues with a clunky rock n roll double bass. Like the rest of this sublime album, it’s irresistible and beguiling. It can’t end early; have to extend the task for five minutes. The floor may look wooden, but itโ€™s lino really; ask Turbo B, or any break-dancer the value of lino; the kitchen is my dancefloor. Time to watusi with broom; the Mrs will be delighted. Even bending to get every last fallen crumb into the dustpan was a pleasure with this album playing in the background; blooming marvellous stuff.

Click to pre-order; gorgeous Christmas pressie!

Numb Tongues, Kings and Dukes

If you like your soul and blues with an authentic vintage feel, look no further than this new Bristol group, The King Dukes….ย 

 

If Bristol wasnโ€™t the birthplace of a โ€œnew coolโ€ through electronic blues in the nineties, with the likes of Massive Attack and Portishead, it certainly led the way. I have to take a deep breath, fetch my pipe and slippers; this is a new era of anti-pop, an era of retrospective tendency, where traditional instruments override our technological desire of the pre-millennium. An era where technology is used only to market, allowing sounds to hark back to a time before drum loops, rap, and the DJ as king.

The king is dead, long live this exciting renovation, and long live The King Dukes. Iโ€™m honoured to give you the low-down, about their new journey. Formed in Bristol in April, a merger of a variety of local bands, including Crippled Black Phoenix, Screaminโ€™ Miss Jackson and the John E. Vistic Experience, The King Dukes combine said talent and experience to create a unique, authentic sound, dipped in a heritage reuniting contemporary slices of British RnB with a dollop of Memphis soul.

kingduke

Set to unleash their debut album โ€˜Numb Tonguesโ€™ on October 25th, Iโ€™ve had a listen or ten, and can plainly see why itโ€™s been picked up by UK label, Paratone, as well as French label QSounds Recording. Chatting to guitarist and frontman, Marc Griffiths, I asked him whatโ€™s in a name, predicting it might relate to Duke Ellington. While pondering he sent a YouTube link of a track not on the album. This song, titled King Cyrille, is Hammond organ boss reggae, akin to Harry Jโ€™s Allstars. Itโ€™ a tribute to West Bromwich Albion player Cyrille Regis. โ€œThe team used to come out to Liquidator,โ€ he explained, โ€œitโ€™s in conjunction with West Brom, for their podcast, so we did something similar.โ€ Momentarily contemplating the name possibly nods more to Duke Reid, Marc cleared it up, informing me they had a residency at the Old Duke in Bristol, โ€œbut thatโ€™s named after Duke Ellington.โ€

I can see why, aside this one-off tune, Numb Tongues is not only dependent on a classic RnB sound, thereโ€™s sprinkles of jazz, blues, yet formulated like Stax or dare I say it, Motown. It rolls out in a manner able to slip its tunes into a set of old-time soul unnoticed. Caril-Anne, for example, is up-tempo soul, beguiling through that recipe of yore, simplicity. Kid Gloves is another lively number, foot-stomping soul with a subtle nod to rockabilly akin to The Big Bopper. This one reminded me of Jack and Elwood Blues marching back and forth.

kingdukes2

But if this four-beat soul formula rings through tracks like I Gotta Go, and Gone, Gone, Gone is stepping, handclapping doo-wop reliant, Rub You The Right Way hooks into a blues riff taking me to Howlinโ€™ Wolf, and True, True, True nods to bebop. This one has a sublime vocal by April Jackson, who holds a note like Etta James. Generally, the vocals are as polished as the aforementioned soul legends, yet grittily Caucasian, like Jim Morrisonโ€™s finest hour.

As a whole thereโ€™s much going on here, but whether thereโ€™s echoing vocals like the ballad, Dying Man, with a breezy jazz-come Otis Redding passion, or, like Marlo Cooper, itโ€™s a blast of instrumental groove, comparable to Stax session musicians Booker T & the MGโ€™s, itโ€™s all stylised and flows superbly. In fact, it was mention of an Otis Redding post on their Facebook page which got Marc and I chatting; glad I did now.

With Marc and April, thereโ€™s drummer Dan Clibery, bassist Mandrake Fantastico, Henry Slim owning that Hammond Organ and Harmonica, and a fiery three-piece brass section with Joss Murray on Trumpet, Rebecca Sneddon on Tenor Sax and Sarah Loveday-Drury handling the Trombone.

Together theyโ€™re a force to be reckoned with. Throwing modern recording techniques aside and using methods for a fifties-sixties sounding album, such as recording a section with multiple instruments all at one time, and playing period-specific instruments, The King Dukes have captured perfectly this raw, vintage backline on โ€˜Numb Tongues.โ€™

kingdukes3

Weโ€™ve seen a similar blueprint around our way with the brilliant Little Geneva, and if this is the trend then Iโ€™m in, hook, line and sinker. Although, naturally, those olโ€™ time classic soul songs never wane in appreciation, sometimes looking further afield to the rare grooves, like Northern Soul aficionados, often the tunes never make equal approval in production and quality. Numb Tongues meet this notion in middle; The King Dukes deliver fresh material with honours, and if heard in 1965 would surely be considered classics.

You can pre-save a copy of Numb Tongues here, thereโ€™s an album launch on December 7th at the LeftBank in Bristol; Iโ€™m keen to hear of anyone willing to bring these guys local for a gig. As you know Devizine doesnโ€™t usually cover Bristol, too much going on and not enough hours in the day, but when itโ€™s this goodโ€ฆโ€ฆ.

ยฉ 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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Mod R&B Legend, Georgie Fame Coming to Devizes!

Update:

Tickets for Friday 8th November are Here!

 

Iโ€™ll probably get told off by my mum for adding this photo, but I love it. My parents and friends at a dance in Shoreditch Town Hall, 1964. Dad captioned the bands were Screaming Lord Such and The Rockinโ€™ Berries. How cool those mods looked!

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Zip forward to 2004 and tired of taking my mum to see mod legend, Georgie Fame, my dad dropped us off in Camberley. It was an awesome night, he played a homage to Ray Charles who had passed that week, and told some great stories. One about Mitch Mitchell, the drummer in his band, the Blue Fames. After checking out an American guy in a club nearby their gig in 1966, Mitch ran back to tell the band how awesome he was, and was soon signed to The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Georgieโ€™s son played guitar at the event, did an amazing solo of Hendrixโ€™s Red House. And of course, Mr Fame, aged sixty-one at the time and still looked cooler than the mods in this photo, played his plethora of hits, โ€œYeah Yeah,โ€ โ€œDo the Dog,โ€ and โ€œThe Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde.โ€ Though I donโ€™t recall my personal favourite, โ€œSomebody Stole my Thunder,โ€ a mod classic which still gets people up today; I know, played at the Scooter Clubโ€™s family fun day.

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With my mum, incessantly inquiring if I thought heโ€™d remember a club in the East End he used to play at, regularly in my earlobe becoming somewhat irritating, after the gig and standing waiting for my Dad to pick us up, I noted Georgie gathered with just a handful of people by a car. โ€œI donโ€™t know!โ€ I huffed, pointing the figure of this senior chap out to her, โ€œwhy donโ€™t you go ask him?!โ€

My mum quivered like a star-struck teenager, โ€œoh no, I couldnโ€™t possibly do that!โ€

โ€œAhk! Heโ€™s standing right there!!โ€ But alas, anxiety got the better of her. It pushed into my mind, that we were all young and impressable once, we all idolised heroes. Yet, though I may shudder to recall some of my own lax, eighties idolisations, I have to admit, Georgie Fame wouldโ€™ve been one cool one to follow, if I lived in that era.

But time is an illusion my friend, for just when you thought weโ€™d seen the end of The Devizes Arts Festival for the year, they today whack us with the announcement Georgie Fame is coming to Devizes on Friday 8th November, playing a one off at the Corn Exchange. I knew this, Margaret whispered her secret some weeks ago, been aching to announce it since!

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I will let you know when tickets are out, but this fantastic news. This Lancashire lad is a legend on the rhythm and blues scene, played alongside rock n roll heroes like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, and an idol to mod/soul aficionados as one of the first British Caucasians to be influenced by ska. Whether you lived through the sixties or not, this is an absolute teaser to forthcoming Arts Festival events, and I thought I was done praising them for the year!

 

ยฉ 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

 

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