Ladies and gentlemen, this Saturday night you all need to be at Hideaway in Streatham.
It’s our first ever Bond theme extravaganza featuring two of my favourite vocalists; David McAlmont and Annabel Williams and some amazing new arrangements by our MD Janette Mason. We’ve got three horns on this show and if the rehearsal on Tuesday was anything to go by, it’s gonna be a fantastic show.
We played two nights at Hideaway last week to celebrate the venue’s third birthday which was a riot. David and Annabel were on these shows too (as well as Brendan Reilly and Gwyneth Herbert) and we previewed a couple of the new Bond arrangements. There are so many great Bond tunes to choose from. Needless to say we’re doing all the classics!
Here’s a video from the birthday shows featuring a duet between Annabel and Brendan Reilly. Loved playing this song…
If you can’t make this Saturday, fear not: we will be playing the Bond show with David and Annabel again for three nights April 18-20th so you’ll have a second chance to see it. If you do want to come tomorrow night I strongly suggest you book your tickets right now as I know it is selling out fast.
Well it’s coming to the end of the year and I thought I’d better drop a quick post to let you in on all the latest news.
On Sunday we had the last of the Clare Teal Christmas shows at the Chapel Arts Centre in Bath. We’d already played the Christmas show in Southampton, Exeter and Maidstone. And in the traditional fashion, there were festive costumes involved for the big Bath show…
Yes indeed, it was my turn to be the Christmas tree this year folks. And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy playing the bass in that outfit. And it was particularly tricky playing the bass, the ukulele and a kazoo whilst dressed as a Christmas tree…
Clare and Grant surpassed themselves once again with some awesome costumes. Inflatable outfits are quite clearly de rigueur this year…
There are big plans for next years Christmas tour. Bigger and better than ever. Our next regular show will be at Pizza Express Dean Street on January 24th. Hopefully see some of you there…
As you should all know by now (and if you don’t: shame on you!) the new trio record with Jez Carr and Mike Haughton  Foreground Music, Vol. I was released last week. It’s been getting a great response and has already received a couple of lovely reviews. Check out Oliver Arditi’s review in his Review Of The Year post. The album is available via Bandcamp for a mere £5.00. Gr grab yourself a copy.
And while you’re at it, you should also check out the new EP by our very own Grant Windsor and drummer Richard Spaven. Their new project The Sure Co. released The Sure Co. 5ive on Jazz Re:freshed last week. You should definitely check that out too. It’s also available on iTunes…
So that’s the new music covered. Now onto the big news of the week. Tomorrow night I’ll be playing Shepherds Bush Empire with Duke Special.It’s gonna be a great show with lots of special guests and support from The Shellac Collective and Michele Stodart. We’ve got the big lineup reunited once more. Am currently dusting off the tailcoat and top hat. The Undertaker is making a comeback for one night only. Frankly, you should all be there…
I suspect this won’t be the last blog of the year, but in case I don’t manage to post again before Christmas; have a good one. I’ll be upstairs at Ronnie Scotts on New Years Eve with Kai Hoffman’s band Kai’s Cats. Should be a great night.
Featuring Jez Carr on piano, Mike Haughton on soprano and tenor saxophones and myself on upright bass this is the culmination of our work together so far as a trio. The eight track album is available right now via Bandcamp in all it’s 24-bit glory in whatever format you prefer.
We are all very excited for you to hear the album. We’re looking to put on some live shows sometime in the new year with a view to recording more material.
Here’s a handy little player from Bandcamp so you can stream the album:
We really hope you like it. If you do, please help spread the word. With no record company or promoters we are relying on you, dear listeners, to help let the world know about our music. You can click the Like button on the Bandcamp page and post the player to your Facebook profiles. You can click the Tweet button and tell all your Twitter followers about us. You can even share the Bandcamp player on your websites and blogs so that others can hear our music.
Any music bloggers or websites that are interested in featuring or reviewing the album, please get in touch either via the comments below or the Contact form.
We’ll keep you informed of any news regarding the album here and via Twitter and Facebook. We’ve already had a few enquiries from radio so hopefully you’ll be hearing us on the airwaves rather soon.
