Great interview with Denys Baptiste by the wonderful Robert Elms on BBC Radio London last week ahead of his show at Harrow Arts Centre. Lovely to hear Robert acclaim Denys’ album, Let Freedom Ring! (Dune Records, DUNECD010) as ‘one of the most eloquent statements to have come out of British jazz in years’. We agree! It is an extraordinary, very special piece of music that has become a modern-day jazz classic.
Tomorrow’s Warriors, Perry Louis and JazzCotech, and the newly crowned UK Calypso Monarch, Sheldon Skeete had everyone up, dancing and smiling at Nottingham Contemporary on Sunday 30 September as they experienced a taste of the Windward Isles with a feast of Caribbean rhythms and swing music. Sheldon ‘Smasher’ Skeete is a brilliant Calypsonian (and an aircraft engineer by day!) – it’s no wonder he beat off all-comers recently to be crowned UK Calypso Monarch.
We had to switch the lineup for our Nottingham show as Peter Edwards and Binker Golding were up in Scarborough for the local jazz festival where, by all accounts, they captured their audience the moment they played the first note, so our lineup was:
Gary Crosby (double bass), Ben Burrell (piano), Moses Boyd (drums), Mark Kavuma (trumpet), Rosie Turton (trombone), Marcus Joseph (alto sax), and Nubya Garcia (tenor sax) plus Perry Louis’ energetic JazzCotech and ‘Smasher’ Skeete.
Here’s a little vid that we shot on the night in Nottingham…
It was a similar story at Harrow Arts Centre on Friday 5 October, where the audience had a great time and, given half the opportunity, would have kept dancing ’til the early hours.
Lively Up! Festival 