preamble
Greetings! Apologies for the massive gap between newsletters 001 and 002 (just short of 2 months, oops) but I hope that this one contains enough stuff to justify the delay and to show that things behind the scenes have actually been happening and I haven’t just been hibernating… much. As ever, if this ain’t your bag you can easily unsubscribe by using the links at the bottom of the message – but if it is your bag and you have lots of friends whose bag it may also be (hope that makes sense), then please forward it to them. Remember – its not spam if its well intended…
On a side note I went to see Django Bates at Band on the Wall last night, it was awesome and he’s a lovely man! He’s off round the UK (dates on his myspace page) so if and when he’s in a place near you make sure you go… Anyway;
In this exciting issue:
• Gigs! + a plea
• More reviews and stuff
• News from our friends
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boys on tour
I’m very excited to announce some more dates across the UK in June and July that, along with the ones previously announced in Camden and Marlborough, kind of make up a UK tour which is pretty rock and roll… There’s hopefully even more to come but dates as they currently stand are as follows:
Friday 21st May – The Forge (Camden)
Monday 7th June – Students Union (Bristol)
Tuesday 8th June – Dempseys (Cardiff)
Wednesday 9th June – Jazzland (Swansea)
Thursday 1st July – Bridgewater Hall (Manchester)
Saturday 10th July – Marlborough Jazz Festival (Marlborough)
More details for each gig are up on the site, but I should let you know that tickets for the gig at The Forge in Camden are available NOW to buy online via their website so go get em! The gig at the Bridgewater Hall is part of an evening concert by the RNCM Symphony Orchestra – as part of their programme they’re performing a work by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and we’ve been asked to perform a 45 minute set in the bar after the gig, including some of our arrangements of Radiohead tunes (15 step for example). Should be a great night! See you at the gigs, come and say hello…
p.s. we’ll be playing a ‘secret’ warm-up gig somewhere in Manchester on Thursday 20th May… Mark the date in your diary and keep an eye on the website, facebook, myspace and twitter – all will be revealed in due course!
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we need YOU!
As you’d expect, even without factoring in a decent daily wage for the musicians, taking 14 people out around the UK is a bit of a financial nightmare… With fuel, accommodation and elaborate costumes and staging to pay for we’re facing a bit of a funding deficit (we may even have to sacrifice the elaborate costumes and staging!) so if you’d like to support us you could always consider making a donation towards the band via the Donate button on the Efpi site. You’ll get that nice warm fuzzy feeling and the satisfaction of knowing you’ve done your good deed for the day, plus we’d collectively love you lots, AND if you donate £10 or more we’ll even send you a postcard from somewhere nice we visit – promise!
Seriously though, its people like you who’ve either come to our gigs, bought the EP and/or made donations when downloading it that keep the band going. So what I’m trying to say is its very much appreciated and… ta!
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things about us on the internet
There’s been a couple more great reviews come in since I last sent out a newsletter, although if you’ve been a regular reader of the website you’ll already be well aware. The most recent was from Ian Mann, aka The Jazz Mann. His site is an amazing resource of CD and live reviews, and also has a comprehensive UK wide listings section – its a great site, so check it out… Ian had this to say bout the EP (check out the full review here):
“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.“
We’ve also been reviewed by Sean Gregson of the Tasty Fanzine, a great music site run by music fans for music fans that covers all genres. Sean’s first paragraph is this (full review here – the rest of it is also as brilliantly written!):
“I’ll admit, I’m an old romantic (which takes less grooming time than a new one). So, when I first heard the Beats and Pieces Big Band, my mind drifted to a future where I could say, ‘Me? Oh, yeah, I’ve been into them since the beginning’. It’s hard to place the music that they create. Attempting to describe is a challenge in itself. Let’s just say, though, this is a beast.”
The EP was also featured in the March issue of Jazzwise magazine, in Mike Chadwick’s Cutting Edge chart which was a massive surprise to find when I read the magazine! Cheers for that Mike, and don’t forget to tune in to his great radio shows on Jazz FM, where EP tracks have been played a few times.
‘bake’, the first track from our EP, is being featured as a Download of the Day on All About Jazz, probably the internet’s biggest jazz site. I think it’s going to be tomorrow (Saturday 10th) but it was also up for a while last week, clearly someone couldn’t wait to share the joy with the world… Check out the download page here, and get downloading from tomorrow! They keep a chart of the most downloaded tracks, it would be great to get as high up there as possible…
Finally, I’ve moved over all of the band’s facebook activity from the group (which was sooooooo 2009) to a brand spanking new fan page. At the time of writing we have 113 fans, but over 250 members of the old group – clearly this situation needs rectifying! If you’re on facebook head on over to www.facebook.com/beatsnpiecesbigband and invite your friends. Who knows what kind of tagged pictures we’ll end up in…
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other people we like playing some music
As well as our tour I told you about above, fellow Efpi artists HAQ (all of whom have played with Beats & Pieces) are also embarking on a series of gigs across the UK across May and June. Dates as follows, get down to them if you can cos they’ll be good ones:
Tuesday 25th May – Matt and Phreds (Manchester)
Thursday 27th May – The Cellar Wine Vaults (Bath)
Saturday 29th May – Zeffirellis (Ambleside)
Sunday 30th May – Hillary Step (Manchester)
Tuesday 1st June – The Wardrobe (Leeds)
Wednesday 2nd June – The Others (London)
Thursday 3rd June – The Yardbird (Birmingham)
Sam Andreae (saxophone), Anton Hunter (guitar), Eero Tikannen (bass), Finlay Panter (drums)
Not sure if its ready to be announced yet (I may well get in trouble for spilling the beans…) but they’ll also be recording for a full length album release on Efpi later on in the year. Exciting times… Meanwhile you can read reviews of their debut EP on Efpi from The Jazz Man and Tasty Fanzine, details as above.
I’m also excited to be playing with the Andy Schofield & Jo McCallum Jazz Orchestra in a couple of gigs in a few weeks. Their Arts Council supported 2010 project features the band profiles two national guitar greats, Mike Walker (Jacqui Dankworth, Mike Gibbs, etc.) and Stuart McCallum (Cinematic Orchestra, Don Weller, etc.), who will be appearing with the band to perform their compositions in special arrangements for the orchestra. This is really not to be missed! Dates as follows:
Thursday April 15th – Band on the Wall (Manchester)
Monday April 19th – Parr Street Studios (Liverpool)
Tuesday April 20th – The Wardrobe (Leeds)
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Thanks for reading, hope its not been too much of a snooze up to this point… Don’t forget to check out the new facebook fan page, and to put our tour dates in your diary – hope to see you there! As always, keep an eye on our website at www.beatsnpieces.net and do get in touch with anything you’d like to say to us on any subject whatsoever by e-mailing info@beatsnpieces.net – have a lovely sunny weekend!
Cheers,
Ben
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