The Hunter/Andreae Quartet EP will be officially launched with a gig in Sandbar. We can’t wait, but we’ll have to as the gig’s not till 14th July.
Sam Andreae – sax
Anton Hunter – guitar
Fin Panter – drums
Gavin Barras – bass
It’s £5 to get in (£3NUS) and there’s a great selection of beers in stock.
Sandbar, 120 Grovesnor Street, All Saints
8pm.
| May 25, 2009 20:00 | to | May 26, 2009 20:00 |
This month’s jazz gig in Solomon Grundy’s is a veritable supergroup of some of Manchester’s finest young musicians. Formed late last year to play each other’s compositions outside of their regular groups. Expect some great tunes re-imagined by…
Moss Freed – guitar
Sam Andreae – sax
Joe Jones – violin
Chris Illingworth – keys
Dan Mitchell – bass
Rob Turner – drums
Everything starts at 9pm sharp and is free to get in.
Solomon Grundy, Wilmslow Road, Withington, M20 4AN
Thanks to everyone who managed to make it down to the Mint Lounge last week for the Big Band Bonanza, it went really well and it was great to see so many faces in the audience. One of those faces was Chris Ackerley, a jazz journalist who has previously worked with Jazzwise, BBC Jazz on 3 and All About Jazz, amongst others, and he sent Sam the following review of the night – I suppose I’m biased but its a really great read so check it out! Hopefully Chris will be writing more for the site so keep those eyes peeled… Thanks to Jeni Hawkswell for the photo too! Click on to read the full review.
So, we’ve finally got it together to record some tunes in a studio. We spent a long day at a secret location with Ben and co. at the controls and so far, from the rough mixes, we’re really happy with what we’ve done. The highlight of the day was, I’m sure everyone involved will agree, the takeaway from Umami, well recommended if you’re ever passing, and there a 20% discount for takeout…
Anyway, we are looking towards releasing a 3-track EP in July (launch gig in Sandbar – 14th July, get it in your diaries now!). This is also going to be the first proper release on the label, so we want to take our time to make it really nice for you all. After that, we’re currently booking a tour for the end of August/beginning of September which is going to be good fun fingers crossed. Oh, and I’m really looking forward to supporting Led Bib on 9th June.
All good so far!
Once likened to “crossing the road in reverie and being run over by a passing bus – but in a pleasing way” Led Bib are both a maverick jazz band and an unlikely rock quintet. Taking their name from a protective garment used on patients during dental treatment, this East London based five-piece pride themselves on side- stepping convention, with incendiary results. In the wake of fellow risk takers Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear, Led Bid are paving the way for an exciting new generation of jazz musicians, daring to rip up the rulebook and leap into the unknown. Consisting of drums (bandleader, Mark Holub), bass (Liran Donin), keys (Toby McLaren) and fronted by two alto sax players (Chris Williams and Pete Grogan), Led Bib are blazing a trail with their fiery and gutsy live shows. Driving melodies roar at full throttle, powered by Holub’s pounding drums.
Led Bib 9th of June
Mint Lounge
Doors: 7:30pm
Tickets: £8
One of the ‘25 Live Acts you MUST see this Summer’ (above Bjork, The White Stripes and The Arctic Monkeys) – Observer Music Monthly
Hi Hi!
After having such a great time on my last visit I couldn’t resist another opportunity to spend some more time in Copenhagen. So after my planned trip to Aarhus I hopped on a train back to the Danish capital and wasted no time meeting up with my friend Marc for a quick informal recording session. Here are the fruits of our labour, a couple of originals and a lovely standard;
Train to Copenhagen – Sam Andreae
Mean One – Marc Mean
A Flower is a Lonesome Thing
After that I headed straight back to the welcoming home of my CouschSurf friend (now actual friend…) Fredrik and the rest of the gang, all 10 of them…. Over the next few days I mostly practiced gypsie jazz and prepared for one of the world famous Pilehuset parties! We also went busking and got dragged of to play at a gangsters wedding, very bizzare. The party was awesome, a very nice 1920s/30s vibe going on with some incredible dancing from Kasper, Kiki and their friends. We provided the music for much of the night and it seemed to go down well, also the alcohol went down well, but after a short nap at 3am I managed to continue through until the end. Which is more than can be said for some of the other revelers….
Here are some photos of the house, the party and the morning after breakfast with the rest of the house;
JAZZ FACTOR 29.05.09
I spent the best part of today at the first in a series of workshop days organised by NW JazzWorks designed to link up local players/promoters with industry experts from around the country. Our panel of experts for the day were;
Stuart Johnson (musician, promoter, tour manager) – our Chair for the day
Oliver Weindling (Vortex & Babel Label), promoter and label director
Kevin Legendre (Jazzwise, BBC Radio 3 & 4…), journalist and broadcaster
Graham McKenzie (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival), curator and writer
It was a very positive experience with many of the staple Manchester jazz crowd present, there was much discussion on the chosen topics for the day which focused in part on the various areas where, as musicians, we need to write actual words as opposed to music. Much of the advice in this area was to be honest and sometimes informal/conversational (how am I doing?), the only problem with this advice is that if you need to be told how to be honest you might have already missed the point….Unfortunately I had to leave before the How To Get Gigs session and that’s why I’m writing this blog instead of actually getting any gigs, if anyone can help in this area it would be much appreciated….
Anyway, there are two more sessions which I’m looking forward to and I will keep you updated on any revelations.
Sam
Acoustic Ladyland have been a fantastic force for change on the British jazz scene, not least because they don’t play anything recognisably jazzy. The band, who formed through their “mutual distaste for jazz sterility and respect for Jimi Hendrix” have gone from strength to strength with their most recent albums Last Chance Disco and Skinny Grin receiving critical acclaim and public success. So you can understand why I’m so pleased that Freedom Principle will be hosting the Manchester date on their June album tour. This date is a co-promote with Hey! Manchester.
Acoustic Ladyland
June 18th, Mint Lounge, Oldham st, M41LE
Doors: 7:30pm
Tickets: £11
