Graeme Taylor's FatSax

Piers Green

Andy Tolman

FatSax
Graeme Taylor - piano
Sam Walker - tenor saxophone
Kelvin Christiane - tenor saxophone
Piers Green - alto saxophone
Andy Mears - alto saxophone
Ollie Weston - baritone saxophone
Andy Tolman - bass
Mike Bradley - drums

Graeme Taylor

Graeme Taylor's FatSax project tips its hat to the world's most classy tribute act of all time, Supersax. Created in 1972 to honour the iconic bebop music of saxophonist Charlie Parker it went on to feature a ever changing role call of talented musicians. Taylor has trimmed the original Supersax format for this concert at Twickenham Jazz Club by removing the trumpet/trombone element but still there was plenty of brass to go round with 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones and baritone alongside bass, drums and of course Graeme Taylor himself on piano.

Sam Walker

It is two years since I have experienced FatSax and not much has changed apart from the personnel and why should it. If you have a winning formula then all that is needed is a gentle caress. Taylor spices up his own recipe with changes in arrangement and a subtle stir of the musicians. Fatsax is unashamedly macho in the flex of its muscle. It is fast, furious and virile.

Ollie Weston

On what would have been Bud Powell's 92nd birthday FatSax gave us the emperor's bullet of Tempus Fugit. Clashing and proud this was pectoral jazz as puffed chests smashed together. Ollie Weston was the slippery Deepthroat, he lathered himself up, writhing in his solo like a electric eeled Schwarzenegger, his baritone was a throbbing manliness. Andy Tolman's bass was the ebullient fizz as Mike Bradley popped the corks on drums. Piers Green's alto had the easy lasso of a rancher, the steer man held his reins while waving victoriously to the Twickenham Jazz Club crowd.

Mike Bardley

Moment's Notice was a rich chop, ducks all lined in a row for the audience, shooting fish in a barrel, sugar coated and cigar puffs. It was easy to lay down and let the sax wash all over us. The meat of the music was laid on a plate, full in the mouth, a gravy indulgence. With the glittering of the saxophones' golden thrusts we all became locked in FatSax's bronze cell of speed and dexterity. It was a metallic cascade which rained upon us, we were the accommodating Danae and Graeme Taylor was our Zeus.

AL.

Kelvin Christiane

Andy Mears

Hungrytown - Twickfolk

Ken Anderson

Hungrytown
Rebecca Hall - voice, guitar
Ken Anderson - guitar, banjo, harmonica, voice

Rebecca Hall

Date - 11th September 2016
Venue - Twickfolk, Twickenham, UK

Current Album - Further West (2015)

Future performance

September 13, 2016 - Lee Rosy's Tea,

17 Broad Street, Nottingham, NTT NG1 3AJ.

September 16 & 17, 2016 - Ceòl Cholasa Festival,

Scalasaig, Isle of Colonsay, ARL PA61 7YW.

September 22, 2016 - Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club,

Polish Ex-servicemen's Club, Bennochy House, Forth Park Drive, Kirkcaldy, FIF KY2 5TA.

September 23, 2016 - Gala Theatre,

Millennium Place, Durham, Durham, DUR DH1 1WA.

September 26, 2016 - Barnsley Folk and Acoustic Night
Barnsley Trades Club lounge, Racecommon Road, Barnsley, SYK S70 6AA.

+ many more dates throughout the Autumn in the UK.

After more than a decade of world-wide touring and three album releases, Hungrytown's Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson have earned a reputation for the quality and authenticity of their songwriting. Hungrytown's introduction to folk music came when a close friend--who died young due to a tragic misdiagnosis--entrusted to them her collection of 1960s folk albums and her guitar. Inspired by the grit and true-to-life experiences she heard in these traditional ballads, Hall was inspired to write the lyrics that later became her first songs, aided by Anderson’s flair for musical arrangement. Soon afterwards, Hall released two solo albums, Sings! (1999) and Sunday Afternoon (2002), both produced by Anderson. In the winter of 2003, the duo quit their boring desk jobs, moved to the green hills of Vermont, and decided to pursue a full-time career as touring musicians.

Ken Anderson

We are passengers in Hungrytown's propelled narratives, look away from the duo, turn the head and you see a wall of trees ticker past. Your thousand yard stare refocuses as you pin your own hopes on the dotted lives that sit within the landscape. The tiny copse, the old shed or the lakeside ripples are all homes to house themes from past and future. Don't let me down is the mirror that reflects my fellow passenger. I catch her as she touches her hair, she is unaware of my attention and that is the frisson.

Under a Broken Sun casts the eye across a dark river, on its surface spins a leaf or a wisp of detritus. It stays afloat but the currents underneath spin the song one way and then the other. Ken Anderson fizzes in a twist only for Rebecca Hall to catch me in her eddy. Calliope is another carousel song, another deliciously dark whirl to make you heady with confusion.

AL.

Inventions and Dimensions at the Ram Jam Club

Duncan Eagles

Inventions & Dimensions
Duncan Eagles - tenor saxophone
Max Luthert - bass
Terence Collie - piano
Will Glasser - drums

Tony Woods

Joined by
Tony Woods (sax), Samuel Eagles (sax) and Matt Bartlett (sax), Dan Redding (guitar), George Bone (piano), Toby Nowell (trumpet), Tracey O'Connor (voice) and many others.

Date - 1st September 2016
Venue - Ram Jam Club, Kingston, 46B Richmond Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 5EE

Max Luthert

A return to Kingston's Grey Horse pub is long overdue for the glitterati of the current Brit Jazz scene.

A host of young musicians cut their teeth in the mid and late noughties when Partikel ran their infamous Jazz jam in the main belly of the pub. Last week we saw the launch of a new night called Inventions and Dimensions at the Ram Jam Club, a purpose built venue that sits just behind their original stomping ground.

Will Glasser

Future dates see a mix of national and international visitors to the Ram Jam stage over September, October and November 2016. Starting with Max Luthert's Orbital tomorrow night with the talented Gareth Lockrane on flute.

8th September - Max Luthert's Orbital

15th September - Preston Glasgow Lowe

22nd September - Peter Edwards Trio

29th September - Matt Chandler Quartet

6th October - Samuel Eagles' Spirit

13th October - Partikel

20th October - Toy Rokit

27th October - Penelope Dreaming

3rd November - Andrew Bain International Quartet

10th November - Andre Canniere Sextet

Terence Collie

The first night was a resounding success with some old and new faces gracing the stage. Eagles and Luthert opened with Will Glasser on drums and TW12 Jazz Festival bigwig Terence Collie on piano. They were ably supported by Tony Woods and Samuel Eagles on saxophone, both men play at the club later on in the year. Samuel Eagles will be giving us a first listen to some new tunes from his imminent second album.

Matt Bartlett

It was wonderful to see some of the original jammers coming back to the fray. Toby Nowell gave us a brief cameo before the much loved Jazz Proof (Eagles.D/Redding/Luthert/Bone) reformed in the style of Take That, without their very own Robbie Williams (Louie Palmer) of course. If this was once a springboard for young talent in the noughties then the night didn't disappoint as post-GCSE Matt Bartlett brought his alto to the party. As one of Mornington Lockett's Royal College students he has a bright future ahead of him, as does Inventions and Dimensions if this young man sticks around.

AL.

Chris Rand - Gathering - The Pheasantry

Chris Rand

Chris Rand - saxophones
Andrew Noble - keys/piano/organ
Jason Reeve - drums
Jacqui Tate - voice
Jamie McCredie - guitar

Jason Reeve

Date - 27th July 2016
Venue - Pizza Express, The Pheasantry, Chelsea

Current Album - Gathering (Dot Time Records, 2016)

Future performance

Sept 4th 2016 - Cinnamon Club, London
Sept 11th 2016 - Cinnamon Club, London

Sept 25th 2016 - Cinnamon Club, London

Jacqui Tate

Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music Chris Rand has quickly became one of the UK’s top saxophone side men, playing and recording throughout the world with many of UK’s top Jazz and Blues artists. He has performed with the Rolling Stones Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood, and has performed as guest artist with George Porter Jr (The Meters) and Guitarists Mick Taylor and Chris Jagger to name but a few. Chris released his Debut CD “Gathering” (Dot Time Records DT9047) which features a series of original compositions influenced by all the various styles that have inspired him over the years.

Andrew Noble

Duck and swivel, sitting in a comical cockpit you push the buttons, ringing bells and whistles. We are skyborne, brushing steel as we skirt past a world of urban totems, their skeletal bodies cutting across the blue in a trigonometric craze. The tune is Sidewalk and it is a 3 card Mondrian trick. Rand strips away the city to reveal a world of animal chaos disguised as humans on the move.

Jamie McCredie

Rip tide Gathering, sliding into a pot of toffee. A zoot train shuffle sees us arrive at Nash Central Station. Heads together, eye to eye, catch the corner of a smile and it spreads across your face. Overheard calls and I rest my finger on this beast's throbbing mechanic chest, the chrome contours smear beneath me. A crash but we can rebuild him! Jumping box, Charlie chops, Linda Lovelace, Peter Piper well and truly pickled. In the frame, we sway, no prayers, just hold on.

Jacqui Tate's Black Coffee reverses the trends and slows the engines, an oil patch collects and seeps in a gradually widening stain. Once trapped we are crushed by her purpose, she is a mangle, the rollers are her attraction and her poise.

AL.

Chris Rand

Mood Indigo - TW12 Jazz Festival

Dawn Cooper

Dave O'Higgins

Mood Indigo

Terence Collie - piano
Dave O'Higgins - saxophone
Richard Sadler - bass
Chris Nicholls - drums
Dawn Cooper - voice
Janet McCunn - voice

Date - 24th July 2016
Venue - Hampton Hill Theatre

Richard Sadler

Future events
4th September -  Riverside Arts Jazz - Celebrating Coltrane feat. Simon Allen

16th September - Jazz Cafe Posk - feat. Quentin Collins, June Bluestone

9th October - Riverside Arts Jazz - "Brubeck/Desmond" feat. Allison Neale

21th October - Jazz Cafe Posk - Roberto Manzin, Weronika Bielecka

4th November Jazz Cafe Posk - Steve Rubie, Anna Clarke

6th November -  Riverside Arts Jazz - Andrew McCormack

11th December - Riverside Arts Jazz - Christmas Party TBA

Terence Collie

Mood Indigo are the talented Jazz outfit brought together under the identically named banner that organises concerts throughout South West London. The events organisation Mood Indigo is the brainchild of Terence Collie and Janet McCunn, the same duo who organise the TW12 Jazz Festival. Regular haunts for gigs include the Hampton Hill Theatre, Riverside Arts (Sunbury), Café Posk (Hammersmith) and the Richmond & Music and Drama Festival, but keep an eye open for pop-up gigs throughout the area. The TW12 Jazz Festival is the most high profile of their events and has been part of the London jazz calendar since 2013.

Chris Nickolls

Furious pulsing piano from the filigree of Terence Collie calls the Caravan, it charts a path between the knife edge of night and day. Wafting faintly from it as it passes is a whiff of chemical inducement, a mix energised by blood and beat. A flowering spew runs from the quartet of Collie, O'Higgins, Sadler and Nicholls into the TW12 audience, an impulsive retch of botanical cascades. There is a bawdiness to O'Higgins, he is the thickset boyfriend and Collie the wispy dame as they dance together. Nicholls is the bartender, running a tight ship and keeping his drinkers from falling over, while Sadler is the jolly at the bar, desperate for a good time. Like the best barflies he exists in a world of his own, generous with his wallet and his bass.

With a name like Things Ain't What They Used to Be and infused by the music the mind bathes in a stream all of its own. Rich roll, chocolate Swiss roll, roly poly, custard and ZX spectrums, block jump games and thick arm-wrestling cricketers.

Janet McCunn

Ellington's Mood Indigo leads us on a chiffon trail through translucent hearts. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me continues the glide in the hands of vocalist Dawn Cooper, the smooth chrome lines give flight as we see our reflections in the flanks of an automobile. While All Too Soon zings like a cocktail, sharpening the eyes as they stare across the room, you cannot help but focus on our singers delicate wrists, the tilt of her head and an exposed neck that would welcome a kiss.

AL.

Southside Gypsy Trio - Djangocardiacs

Mike Guy

Southside Gypsy Trio

Mike Guy - accordion

Christian Miller - guitar

Eric Guy - double bass

Date - 24th July 2016
Venue - Hampton Hill Theatre

Eric Guy

The popular TW12 Jazz Festival returns for another year under the guidance of Terence Collie and Janet McCunn. The Southside Gypsy Trio are an all-acoustic trio that include three of London’s finest musicians, coming together from varying musical backgrounds to pay tribute to Parisian culture of the twenties and thirties with a heart-warming repertoire of Gypsy Jazz classics, American songbook standards, and maybe the odd Musette waltz and Paso Doble thrown in for good measure.  In particular, the band features the forward-thinking compositions of Gus Viseur, the only accordion player to ever play in the Quintette Hot Club de France with the great Django Reinhardt. 

Entwined narratives, rolling minds, wandering hands set the scene of village meals where children hide under the tablecloths and spin make believe worlds. There are patterned shadows and burnt fingers in the music of the Southside Gypsy Trio. We lick our fingers clean of their musical grease, and our guilty smiles jerk across our faces. Whether they recount in novel or short or paragraph length you find yourself lost in the stories.

Christian Miller

Excuse the roll of lists than spring from the mind but they collect like pennies in a cloth cap. Coloured awnings and perpetually ascending stairwells rise to upper floor apartments. We hear the anthems for bumbling achievers, for this is the music for the dreamer or some would call us the contented failures. I am proud to be blackened by my various misdemeanours, and it is this war paint that brings me closer together to the people who sit beside me in the low-lit audience.

AL.

RACC Jazz Ensemble - TW12 Jazz Festival

Dave Jones

Fliss Hother

RACC Jazz Ensemble
Dave Jones - bass
Kate McGurk - vocal
Emiliano Caroselli - drums
Fliss Hother - saxophone
Gerard Gregg-Smith - saxophone
Alfie Carroll - guitar
Emma Wade - piano

Date - 24th July 2016
Venue - Hampton Hill Theatre

Gerard Gregg-Smith

The popular TW12 Jazz Festival returns for another year under the guidance of Terence Collie and Janet McCunn. Once again the Art of Jazz sketching is contained within the confines of the festival's main stage at the Hampton Hill Theatre during the afternoon session. The festival is one of London's best kept secrets tucked away in the TW12 postcode, although nowadays it has grown to include the streets of Richmond and Twickenham, the Hampton Pub (Hampton) and Normansfield Theatre in Teddington.

Emiliano Caroselli

Students at Richmond Jazz School, part of the Richmond Adult Community College, perform with  composer and virtuoso bass player Dave Jones and guest drummer Emiliano Caroselli.

The grasshopper dance of Emma Wade as she hops through the opening of Cedar Walton's Bolivia and the an equatorial pick me up from Alfie Carroll on guitar feels dangerously strong, refreshing and alcoholic for a daytime tipple in the suburbs.

Kate McGurk

I'll Close My Eyes is full rich and beachside like the Bolivia which proceeds it. There is time and space in which to breathe, the smell of the air transports you both to imagined climes but also spins a reality in which to catch personal feeling within.

Emma Wade

The cheeky Bud Powell is well worn and worn well by the RACC Jazz Ensemble, it has a carefree flip of a coin. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is laidback attack, powerful and deliberate. It is a slow motion spread of jam on a slice of white bread, cut from a freshly baked Cavan's tin. A Hampton Hill speciality.

AL.

Alfie Carroll