preamble
So its pretty hot isn’t it? Apologies for opening the second newsletter in a row with weather related small talk, but its the first (and only) thing that came to mind as its now the early hours of the morning and I’m still more than a bit sweaty. Obviously that could well be down to the excitement of the new month, the turning over of the new page on the Cliff Richard and Rachel Stevens calendars (not a joint calendar, unfortunately), and the anticipation of some good stuff on the cards for the forthcoming 31 days – some of which I’ll mention below…
In this exciting issue:
• where we went last month
• where we’re going this month
• mjf and beyond
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water, fire and tents
At the beginning of June we spent a couple of days in South Wales for gigs in Cardiff and Swansea – both gigs were awesome (cheers to everyone who came down!) and the day off in between the gigs was also pretty good… We camped just outside Carmarthen at an amazing house equipped with its own lake (complete with boats!), which we took full advantage of once we’d shaken the hangovers from the all-night drinking around the bonfire. You can read more about it, and view video evidence of our nautical exploits, on the website here.
We were also invited back to Liverpool to play at the Groove on the Green festival, which was (again) a great day, not least because the weather was much better than last year! Thanks a lot to everyone at the festival for having us – see you next year?!
Also very proud to announce that the EP is now officially (almost) SOLD OUT! There are only 2 copies left of the 100 handmade packages, both of which I forgot to take to Wales with us otherwise we would have sold them there. If you still haven’t got one, you better order pretty quick…
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upcoming things
In not many hours we’ll be resuming our grand UK tour for the final few gigs, starting with a short set at the Bridgewater Hall TONIGHT! (Thursday 1st July). We’ll be playing some of our Radiohead arrangements to coincide with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra’s performance of a work by Jonny Greenwood, paired with Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring. The orchestra gig starts at 7.30 and we’ll be playing in the bar once that finishes (around 9.15), after which the Icelandic composer Olafur Arnolds will be showcasing some of his tunes with a full symphony orchestra. All in all it’ll be an amazing evening! More information here and here.
Then we’ll be off to Marlborough to play at the jazz festival there on Saturday 10th. We’re playing from 12-2 and (I think) you’ll be able to vote for us as the festival’s best newcomer by visiting their website, although it doesn’t seem to work at the moment and also our listing on the site is a bit nonsensical and directs you to the myspace of a random guy from Portland, Oregon rather than our own internet home… But web gremlins permitting, we’ll still be there on the 10th so hopefully see you there too.
Finally we’ll be completing our tour with a set at the closing party of the Manchester Jazz Festival on Saturday 31st. We’ll be playing in the Festival Pavilion in Albert Square from 8.30 with the Dark Knights of Soul, following on from the world premiere of Neil Yates’ new mjf commission. All in all, a top evening! For more on other things in the festival, see the following paragraph…
Just time to say thanks a lot to everyone who supported us during these gigs, by booking us or attending or buying a CD or downloading the EP or in any other possible way… Cheers!
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bits and bobs
As mentioned above, the Manchester Jazz Festival runs from Friday 23rd July to Saturday 31st, and there’s loads of top gigs! Check out the brochure (pdf) for more details, but highlights for me include Mike Walker, Gwilym Simcock, Steve Swallow & Adam Nussbaum on Tuesday 27th, The Golden Age of Steam + Trio VD on Friday 30th, and Neil Yates‘ Surrounding project on Saturday 31st, which is of course followed by our gig with the Dark Knights of Soul.
Closer to home, I’m also looking forward to playing with Anton Hunter’s 265 Quartet on Thursday 29th at 12.30 in the Festival Pavilion – this is a new chamber group ‘blurring the boundaries between contemporary classical and improvisation’. It features Anton on guitar, Graham South on flugelhorn, Rod Skipp on cello and me on clarinet, be good to see you there! Also should flag up gigs by various Beats & Pieces members and/or friends, including (apologies to any I’ve missed…):
Saturday 24th – Magic Hat Ensemble (12 noon)
Monday 26th – Sam Rapley/Adam Chatterton Quintet (2.30pm)
Wednesday 28th – Jim Faulkner Group (11.45am), Alice Zawadzki & Moss Freed (2.30pm)
Thursday 29th – The 265 Quartet (12.30pm), Ben Watte/Sam Healey Quintet (2.30pm)
A little further afield but still worth mentioning – I’m off to Birmingham on Saturday (3rd) to the Mostly Jazz Festival where I’ll be enjoying a whole day of jazz from the likes of Polar Bear, Led Bib and the Sun Ra Arkestra in (hopefully) a sunny field. If you’re around the Midlands area you should definitely check the lineup out, it looks like its going to be a great weekend.
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For those of you still on tenterhooks from the last newsletter, I can reveal that I have now reached 100 twitter followers (yay)… In fact I have 123 at the time of writing, one of whom is @efpirecords which offers regular updates on the activities of the Efpi label and on the day to day experience of being Anton Hunter. He’s new to the game and somewhat lacking in followers, so help him out!
Thanks for reading, and as always remember to keep an eye on our website at www.beatsnpieces.net and get in touch with anything you’d like to say to us on any subject whatsoever by e-mailing info@beatsnpieces.net
Cheers,
Ben
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