Probably should have posted this a bit sooner (sorry…) but wanted to write to say what an amazing time we had in South Wales last Tuesday and Wednesday! Thanks to Alistair and the team at Dempseys in Cardiff and to Dave and everyone at Swansea Jazzland for having us, we really enjoyed ourselves and hope you and the audience did too – hopefully be back soon…
We spent the day in between the two gigs camping and hanging out in the countryside outside Carmarthen at Sam Andreae’s uncle’s amazing house (thanks again for hosting us Mike & Celia!), complete with ping-pong, pool, darts, bbq, campfire and lake – equipped with rowing boat and kayak. Hopefully more photos of our exploits to come, but these videos of Sam Healey (saxophone) and Paul Strachan (bass trombone) attempting to get to grips with the kayak should give you some idea of what we got up to!
Once again, cheers to everyone we met – can’t wait til we come back!
Posted by on 16/06/2010 at 20:16 in gigs, misc, news and tagged cardiff, carmarthen, dempseys, jazzland, kayak, paul strachan, sam healey, swansea, tour, wales, youtube. Leave comments here.
So we’ve now kicked off the tour with gigs in Manchester and Camden which were awesome, and are looking forward to the next leg of gigs beginning this weekend! We’ll be taking in the Groove on the Green festival in Liverpool (Saturday 5th June, onstage 2.15pm til 3pm), before setting off to Dempseys in Cardiff (Tuesday 8th) and Jazzland in Swansea (Wednesday 9th). It’d be great to see you at some of the gigs – if the last two were anything to go by they’ll be amazing nights!
Also we’ve now only got 12 copies left of the limited edition run of 100 handmade EPs so if you’ve still not got one make sure you order one asap or you’ll miss out! No more will be made once we’ve sold all 100, and the EP will also no longer be available for free download. Order now here.
ps note that good friends Go Go Penguin (formally known as the Chris Illingworth Trio) will be playing at Groove on the Green on Sunday 6th so check that out too!
Posted by on 02/06/2010 at 21:57 in gigs, news and tagged cardiff, dempseys, ep, gogo penguin, groove on the green, jazzland, liverpool, swansea. Leave comments here.
Sorry I’ve been a little slow to post this on the site but I’ve been a busy boy with the beginning of our tour last week, slipped my mind… Anyway, the 3rd edition of the Beats & Pieces newsletter was delivered to mailboxes across the internet last week, and if you STILL haven’t signed up to receive it in yours you can read it online here. Once you’ve read it, make sure you sign up here.
Posted by on 24/05/2010 at 13:11 in news and tagged mailing list, newsletter. Leave comments here.
You may have seen cryptic messages on myspace & facebook referring to a secret gig somewhere in Manchester on Thursday 20th May… Well its finally time to let the cat out of the bag!
We’ll be playing in a big band double bill with the wonderful Alice Zawadzki who’ll be showing off her brand new 18 piece Sky Project, a collaboration with the equally wonderful Jo McCallum. You’ll also get to hear the exciting Sam Rapley/Adam Chatterton quartet.
The evening will be held at the West Didsbury Conservative Club, Burton Road, M20 2LN (map) and will begin at 8pm. Entry will be free, but we will be accepting donations if you enjoy the music!
See you there…
Posted by on 14/05/2010 at 12:04 in b&p friends, gigs, news and tagged adam chatterton, alice zawadzki, gig, jo mccallum, sam rapley, sky project, west didsbury. Leave comments here.
If you’re a subscriber to the Beats & Pieces mailing list you’ll already have heard about this from the latest newsletter but if not, I hope you’ll be as excited as we are about our upcoming tour dates all over England and Wales! Dates as they stand are as follows:
Friday 21st May – The Forge, Camden (info & tickets)
Saturday 5th June – Groove on the Green, Liverpool (info)
Tuesday 8th June – Dempseys, Cardiff (info)
Wednesday 9th June – Jazzland, Swansea (info & tickets)
Thursday 1st July – Bridgewater Hall (bar), Manchester (free gig after RNCM Symphony Orchestra perform music by Jonny Greenwood & Stravinsky – info)
Saturday 10th July – Marlborough Jazz Festival (info & tickets)
For more information check out the individual venue websites as listed below or the gigs page. You can also join the facebook group for the tour here.
We’ll also be playing with the Jo McCallum & Alice Zawadski Orchestra at a secret venue in Manchester on Thursday 20th May… Location to be revealed a few days before on this site, twitter, myspace and facebook – keep those eyes peeled!
It’d be awesome to see you down the front at one (or more…) of the dates, do come and say hi! We’re all well excited and counting down the days, not long now…
p.s. thanks again to the amazing Angela Guyton for letting us use her artwork again for the poster!
Posted by on 30/04/2010 at 11:54 in gigs, news and tagged bridgewater, camden, cardiff, dempseys, forge, jazzland, liverpool. groove on the green, london, manchester, marlborough, swansea, tour, uk. Leave comments here.
…has left the building! In this issue: exciting UK TOUR news, round up of all the places we’ve been spotted on the internet, and news of gigs from friends HAQ and the Andy Schofield/Jo McCallum Jazz Orchestra.
If you weren’t fortunate enough to receive it as a member of our mailing list, never fear! You can rectify the situation by signing up to the mailing list here and reading newsletter 002 online here.
Posted by on 09/04/2010 at 19:16 in news, site and tagged andy schofield, haq, jo mccallum, mailing list, newsletter, tour. Leave comments here.
Ian Mann (aka The Jazz Mann) has taken a listen to the Beats & Pieces EP for a review on his site… and he liked it a lot!
Beats & Pieces is no polite youth jazz orchestra and this EP is an invigorating and often surprising listen… packed as it is with youthful exuberance, fiery playing and a high degree of technical skill.
You can read the full review here, and whilst you’re there be sure to check out the rest of the site; its a great resource for the latest CD and live reviews, as well as listings for gigs across the country. Ian also checked out the HAQ EP – read that review in full here.
Posted by on 07/04/2010 at 21:59 in news and tagged ep, haq, ian mann, review, the jazz mann. Leave comments here.
Beats & Pieces EP
Available now from Efpi Records
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