Brook's Blues Bar at The Telegraph
Every Friday we are at The Telegraph Pub on Putney Heath
LISTINGS AT A GLANCE
| JANUARY | |
| Friday 8 | GILES HEDLEY & THE AVIATORS |
| Friday 15 | ERROL LINTON TRIO |
| Friday22 | POKEY LaFARGE BAND (USA) UK DEBUT & CD LAUNCH – UK TOUR – BBB EXCLUSIVE |
| Friday 29 | JOHN CRAMPTON |
| FEBRUARY | |
| Friday5 | THE WIYOS (USA) UK TOUR – BBB EXCLUSIVE |
| Friday12 | STEVE MORRISON TRIO |
| Friday 19 | THE LAST GASP SPASM BAND (Macmillan fund raising evening) |
| Friday26 | SONNY BLACK & CHRIS BELSHAW |
| MARCH | |
| Friday 5 | DAVE PEABODY & BOB HALL – UK TOUR |
| Friday 12 | RAG MAMA RAG – UK TOUR – BBB EXCLUSIVE |
| Friday 19 | STENSON & BURKE |
| Friday 26 | FRAN MCGILLIVRAY, MIKE BURKE & ROGER NUNN |
Spring /Summer season include Steve James (USA), Ramsay Midwood (USA) Dana Gillespie, The Spikedrivers and many more….
BROOKS BLUES BAR
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING BROOKS BLUES BAR
KEEP MUSIC LIVE…AND ALIVE!
Bookings correct at time of printing. Please ring to check line-up or see www.brooksbluesbar.co.uk for updates, or ask to join our email list for regular reminders: info@brooksbluesbar.co.uk. Your email address will be confidential.
Use the new Booking Form to confirm a table for one of our fabulous gigs. (PDF form opens in separate window)
The Telegraph – a Country Pub in London where you can…
- Listen to the best acoustic blues in London in style
- Enjoy good food, (last orders 9.45), real ales and fine wines. Table service.
- Book a table by phone, (no need to eat), or email: info@brooksbluesbar.co.uk for priority booking
- Join our email list for weekly updates
- Music room opens at 8pm
BROOKS BLUES BAR AT THE TELEGRAPH BOOKING & INFORMATION: 020 8788 2011
Buses: 14, 93, 85, (424 until 8pm).
Free parking. Minicab: Putney Car Service 020 8870 6050
Printer friendly listings
BROOKS BLUES BAR TAKES A BREAK DURING DECEMBER RETURNING IN THE NEW YEAR ON 8TH JANUARY.
JANUARY 2010
FRIDAY 8 JANUARY – GILES HEDLEY & THE AVIATORS
"... a genuine hard-bitten bluesman ... a genius. Hedley makes his tight, measured electric blues look effortless, but this is virtuoso stuff." Oxford Mail
"…rocking country blues…" Time Out
"authenticity is all ... Hedley clearly prefers the rough to the smooth" The Guardian
Launching our winter season again by popular demand is Giles Hedley, a regular on the blues festival and club circuits both solo and with The Aviators, has appeared on national radio in England and France - truly, in the words of top UK blues magazine Blues in Britain, a "mainstay of British blues".
His band The Aviators is a funky, danceable roots-blues trio steeped in early Chicago blues. Earthy slide and steel guitars, a unique rack harmonica style, a passionate, Wolf-style voice, adventurous bass and drums right up front in the mix create the unmistakeable Aviators sound, quite unlike other British blues bands.
With the inimitable Sam Kelly of Blues in Britain's Hall of Fame on drums (check out www. sam-kelly.com) and jazz-funk musician, writer and producer Richard Sadler on upright bass, dazzling rhythmic interplay is the band's key feature - one of the reasons that it plays as many dance gigs as blues festivals.
Admission £12
FRIDAY 15 JANUARY – ERROL LINTON TRIO
Three times winner of UK Blues Harmonica Player of the Year, Errol Linton and his band The Blues Vibe, play eclectic British blues, but with a nod to his Caribbean heritage. Singer, songwriter, harp player and bandleader, Errol carries the legacy of Little Walter, Junior Wells and Sonny Boy Williamson into the 21st century, moving the genre forward by combining 50’s Chicago blues with gentle Jamaica rhythms. Accompanied by Jean-Pierre Lampe, double bass, and Adam Blake guitar, his blues are an urban sound with rural roots.
Errol's first album ‘Vibing It’ had airplay and a session for BBC Radio 2 Paul Jones Blues Show, airplay from Bob Harris, Johnny Walker, Andy Kershaw, Charlie Gillett and a host of independent radio blues shows. Errol has toured with blues man Henry Gray (Howlin' Wolf's piano player for 14 years) in Spain and London in the 90's. The band have opened shows for The Blind Boys of Alabama, Charlie Musselwhite and Bo Diddley.
Admission £12
FRIDAY 22 JANUARY – POKEY LaFARGE & THE SOUTH CITY THREE (USA) – UK DEBUT AND ALBUM LAUNCH – A BROOKS BLUES BAR EXCLUSIVE.
“When you hear the ragged glories he knocks out on his acoustic six-string you know there’s more than just showbiz glitz to this critter. Like all genii, there’s a little bit of madness in there too, and when the Missouri Riverfront Times said he sung like ‘a transgendered punk Bessie Smith’ it only told half the story. LaFarge is a sweet singer, sure, but he’s also a dexterous instrumentalist – harmonica, guitar, banjo and kazoo all take a beating – and throws out a timeless sound that could date from any period in the last 80 years. Go be delighted" – Mark Robertson, music editor, The List, Scotland
“Lawd knows we need people like Pokey LaFarge. Coming on like a bastard son of Woody Guthrie and Blind Blake, this is the kind of stuff Ry Cooder’s been trying to do for decades: no-holds-barred, honest-to-goodness sheet-kicking music of the highest order. A lo-fi gem from an, as yet, unsung troubadour” – Julian Piper, Acoustic magazine, UK
A veritable one-man band, channeling, gospel, blues and folk he is also a great showman, cajoling the audience to join in, whether getting them to hold their breath for the duration of a guitar solo or to hum, hit or hiss an imaginary musical instrument. Paul Kerr, Americana UK
“The Glasgow gig last night was excellent. I’d been playing Pokey's CD for a while now and had been looking forward to this, but I had no idea just how entertaining he is. Must be a real blast when he plays with his full band” – Paul Clarkson, Sunny Govan FM, Glasgow, Scotland
Need we say more? After wowing the Edinburgh Festival fringe a few months back, Pokey LaFarge returns with his band – and makes his UK debut at Brooks Blues Bar and launches their new album ‘Riverboat Soul’ – preview tracks on his website.
In true rambler fashion, LaFarge does not look back; he looks only forward on the next road ready approaching with his guitar in his hand and his voice ready to fly. His influence is deeply rooted in the heroes and misfits of yesterday; the long lost troubadours of country, the kings of swamp-drenched ragtime, and all the legendary bluesmen of the Cotton Kingdom. Music is not just chords and notes and melody. To a person who truly loves music, it is a medium to celebrate this life. For Pokey, every show is a celebration – juke-joint style – where women twirl in their dresses and the fellas stomp their feet and clap their hands. To this day, Pokey LaFarge is still finding tranquillity within the yellow highway lines playing up to two-hundred shows a year bringing his music to anyone young and old who is willing to listen. Pokey Lafarge – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Guitjo, Kazoo, Harmonica, Joey Glynn – Upright Bass, Vocals, Ryan Koenig – Vocals, Harmonica, Washboard, Adam Hoskins – Guitar, Vocals
Pokey LaFarge E-Letter from Blues in Britain (279kb PDF document opens in separate window)
Admission £15
FRIDAY 29 JANUARY- JOHN CRAMPTON - BROOKS BLUES BAR DEBUT.
“Crampton plays a heavy blues in a king kind of Tom Waits/John Hammond vibe…a wonderful singer & guitarist…really cookin!” Michael Messer
“Crampton plays a mean bottleneck on an ancient National Steel whilst producing his own percussion via a stomp box. Add some gravel vocals and the occasional harmonica burst..an amazing one-man band – his playing was like a locomotive, his singing like an angry chain-saw..this man could not be faulted” Blues in London.
“A one-man glues explosion” The Spitz
Londoner John Crampton – self-taught on guitar and harmonica – plays slide or bottleneck style on a 1930s National Steel guitar with harmonica and stompbox. He sings mostly originals and acknowledges the influence of blues icons Howlin’ Wolf, Bukka White, John Hammond and John Lee Hooker.
www.MySpace.com/johncramptonmuisc
www.youtube.com/johncramptonmusic
Admission £10
FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY – THE WIYOS (USA) – A BROOKS BLUES BAR EXCLUSIVE.
Brooks Blues Bar have waited eagerly for the Wiyos’ return to the UK since we first booked this unknown band four years ago. Since then they have gained fame, (if not fortune), most recently topping the bill at a BBC concert and film documentary of American music at the Barbican last year, and opened a music festival tour starring Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson.
Michael Farkas, Parrish Ellis, Joseph “Joebass” DeJarnette and Terry Weber draw from a vast spectrum of traditional American and urban roots music the internationally acclaimed Brooklyn-based quartet craft a fresh yet familiar sound. They began as street performers in New York and New Orleans, they have spend six years touring Europe, honing their virtuosic musical chops, the UK and the US - fusing their tireless curiosity of American music with contemporary sounds. Their repertoire covers standards from tin-pan alley to Texas to original compositions, songs from the 30s and 40s to modern originals.
The Wiyos have traveled a very long distance, both geographically and figuratively, during their five-year lifespan. There are the statistics - they have driven over 400,000 miles in seven different countries and played over 1,000 shows; but there is also the creative journey, which has been just as epic and equally adventurous.
Both the second album Hat Trick and the most recent The Wiyos derive inspiration from the great dance bands and house party music of 80-90 years ago; the early swing syncopations, the grit and intensity of rural blues, the bouncing rhythms of piedmont fingerpickers, the vocal antics, mannerisms and physical comedy of vaudeville-era performers. The difference inherent in The Wiyos is the notable proliferation of songs written by Farkas and Ellis, the results being some very interesting and singular original music. Their songs exist in multiple styles and eras simultaneously without sounding forced or affected.
The Wiyos E-Letter from Blues in Britain (273kb PDF document opens in separate window)
Admission £15
FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY - STEVE MORRISON TRIO
Steve Morrison is one of the most purely musical guitarists I know, using his bluesy slide to weave together rockabilly rhythms, jazzy melodies and folksy chords. Every note is there for a reason – there are no extensive solos here, no hi-fi guitar processors and earth-shattering volume levels, no fast-finger noodling for the sake of showing off. Of course, Steve doesn’t need to show off – the Malmsteens and the Bonamassas can’t touch him, and he knows it. ANDRES ROOTS - For Blues In Finland
Confident and varied and accomplished set of songs ranging from virtuoso spanish guitar to train whistle blues, dipping into reggae, music hall, good old fashioned pop and whatever else the store-cupboard had to offer. Breathy vocals suggest Tom Waits… In a better world this man would already be a legend. Musician Magazine
This is a new line-up. Steve has developed the ability to blend bass-lines, chords and melodies into a seamless guitar style. He has long explored the potential of alternative guitar tunings and the use of the bottle-neck in the pursuit of original sounds. His remarkable technique enables him to play two or three musical parts on the one instrument. His repertoire includes many original songs full of wit and social commentary and the lyrics are delivered by a warm, passionate voice that combines with the guitar to give a powerful performance.
Steve is accompanied by Mark Walker who has played percussion for Rolf Harris since the 1990s, appearing with him around the world, from the Albert Hall to Cape Town, not to mention at his many infamous Glastonbury performances. Originally a kit player - he was one of the initial drummers in the Lion King - he has spent the past few years developing a style and technique that combines kit and percussion, creating an original and distinctive groove that makes him a perfect partner for Steve, adding both driving and subtle rhythms to the music.
Also appearing is Dave Burrluck - Guitar & Bass Guitar
www.artofblues.netAdmission £12
FRIDAY 19 FEBRUARY - THE LAST GASP SPASM BAND –– MACMILLAN NURSES FUNDRAISER in tribute to the late Brian Cookman.
“The Hokum Hotshots” joined in force with “Lee Bates and Billy Newton” plus the awesome jug playing of Michael “Fruitlips” Watson to become The Last Gasp Spasm Band the only authentic jug band in the UK. Guests include Rob Mason on harmonica and Master of Ceremonies- Simon Prager.
The band are some of finest Blues and Roots performers around, consisting of Jim Murray and Peter Mason, better known as The Hokum Hotshots, alongside Lee Bates and Billy Newton; another excellent Blues duo from the Northeast. Joining them on Jug is the wonderful Michael ‘Fruit-Lips’ Watson.
The array of instruments played by the band is staggering and includes an impressive selection of steel-bodied resonator guitars, resonator mandolin, Banjo mandolin, 6-string banjo, mandola, ukuleles, Tiple, harmonica, washboards, spoons, kazoos, a myriad of whistles and, of course, the ubiquitous Jug.
The Last Gasp Spasm Band have gained a following, with barnstorming performances at London’s Brooks Blues Bar, Glasgow Blues On The River Festival, Appleby Beer and Blues Festival and a headlining appearance at The Great British R’n’B Festival.
Heading South from their Tyneside stronghold they gather in London’s Brooks Blues Bar for the annual gig to raise funds for Macmillan Nurses in tribute to the late bluesman Brian Cookman – guitar and harp player who loved the early blues with a passion. He is also remembered with affection for entertaining the early BBB audience with his witty asides.
Anyone who attended the previous Macmillan Fundraising evenings will remember The Last Gasp Spasm Band setting the place alight with high octane entertainment. The musicians and Brook Blues Bar donate their fees to the cause. If you have anything to donate to the raffle or auction, please leave it with The Telegraph bar staff or bring it with you on any Friday.
http://www.myspace.com/lastgaspband
www.hokumhotshots.co.uk
Admission £12
FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY - SONNY BACK & CHRIS BELSHAW – A BROOKS BLUES BAR EXCLUSIVE
“He possesses that quality that can only be called blues soul.” (Blues in Britain Magazine).
"An outstanding artist." Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2
”Top drawer"…..Time Out
Inspired by the rich history of blues guitarists, Sonny Black is true to the spirit of the blues and roots tradition. From playing acoustic country blues in the ‘70s’ with British blues pioneer Mike Cooper, through several European tours culminating in two critically acclaimed albums for Pye Records, Sonny Black went on to tour and perform with blues legends such as Lowell Fulson, Phil Guy, and Jimmy Dawkins. Sonny’s album Heart and Soul was voted album of the year by Blueprint Magazine in the UK.
Sonny and bass player Chris Belshaw recapture the sound of traditional acoustic and Chicago blues. A superb duo that never fails to deliver a tight and flawless yet soulful and moving performance.
Admission £10
FRIDAY 5 MARCH –DAVE PEABODY & BOB HALL – UK TOUR
Meetings with Remarkable (Blues) Men -pianist Bob Hall & guitarist Dave Peabody perform and recount tales about the bluesmen they have met during fifty years of playing the blues.
From the 1950's onwards visiting American blues stars have toured the UK in the company of British musicians who in turn have absorbed the blues spirit that gives the music its gritty integrity. Multi-award-winners Bob Hall (piano/vocals) and Dave Peabody (guitar/vocals) have had the experience of learning from many blues originals during thousands of miles of travelling around the UK and the U.S.A. John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, Honeyboy Edwards, Charlie Musselwhite and a host of other blues giants have befriended Hall and Peabody giving them the kind of insight worth more than a lifetime spent just listening to records.
Today Hall and Peabody are the foremost UK exponents of traditional blues styles. In Meetings with Remarkable (Blues) Men they perform the music of their friends and mentors telling stories of their lives and travels, some poignant, some hilarious but all from their own personal experiences. Dave Peabody is also a photographer with an international reputation whose work is seen in books, magazines, and hundreds of albums.
Admission £10
FRIDAY 12 MARCH – RAG MAMA RAG – UK TOUR
RAG MAMA RAG (back by popular request), have slowly and consistently built up their reputation as one of Europe’s finest Country Blues acts. With an interesting and wide range of instruments, Ashley Dow, (Henderson acoustic guitar, National & Dobro Resonator bottleneck guitars, Weissenborn acoustic lap steel, ukulele and vocals), plus Deborah Dow, (harmonica, washboard, percussion and backing vocals.,
RAG MAMA RAG create an exceptionally full and hard driving rhythmic sound. Their repertoire is 20s and 30s blues based, but extremely varied, encompassing Mississippi blues, East Coast ragtime sounds, early white country tunes, original compositions, and many other regional styles of the 20s and 30s period.
Touring nonstop in Europe, (they now live in France), during the last ten years RAG MAMA RAG have clocked up well over 3000 concerts and have played at all the major festivals in France, Belgium and Germany.
www.ragmamarag.co.uk
Admission £10
FRIDAY 19 MARCH - KEVIN STENSON & PETE BURKE
Kevin Stenson (guitar and harmonica) has his musical roots in the country and city blues and jazz of the 1930's, old Appalachian mountain songs and dust bowl ballads. Along his musical path he met, played with and learnt from masters like Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Lowell Fulson, Simon Prager, Steve Phillips and the late Jo-Ann Kelly. But these and a host of vinyl influences, including Merle Travis, Lonnie Johnson, Doc Watson and Little Walter have long been absorbed into his own musical voice.
He and his long-time partner Pete Burke, who lives in Spain, get together for their annual appearance at Brook’s.
"Excellent acoustic fare from harmonica/guitar man Kevin Stenson and slide man Pete Burke, embracing blues, Appalachian songs and dust bowl ballads." Time Out
Admission £10
Sample songs hosted on You Tube (each link opens in a new window)
St James Infirmary
Take it Easy
Hey Mr. Blues
FRIDAY 26 MARCH - FRAN McGILLIVRAY & MIKE BURKE TRIO
“…it's an appropriate time to pay tribute to the impressive, hard-working musicians who never quite make the headlines. McGillivray and Burke are just such a duo. They have been playing for the best part of 30 years, in the blues band So Long Angel and as acoustic folk-blues guitarists. Much of what they do is very impressive. McGillivray has an agreeably controlled and laid-back vocal style, often with an American twang, while Burke is an excellent blues guitarist. Guardian review 2008
Fran and Mike are founder members of electric band So Long Angel. Since appearing at the Colne Blues Festival as a duo in 2004 they have concentrated much of their energy into developing a unique acoustic brand of blues and hauntingly original self-penned songs featuring Fran on vocals and bass guitar and Mike on guitars and Roger Nunn on kit, djembe and percussion.
Admission £12