Tag Archives: Jason Yarde

Catch A Fire sets Royal Concert Hall Alight!

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Jazz Jamaica Family Fun Club kicked off the Lively Up! Festival on Friday 28 September at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham with a Mango Spice performance workshop for 70+ primary school children supported by EMJazz.

 That evening saw a long-held dream realised for bassist/band leader Gary Crosby OBE with the premiere of Catch A Fire with 30-piece orchestra made up of big band Jazz Jamaica All Stars, strings section Urban Soul Orchestra and the incredible vocalist Brinsley Forde (Aswad) at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. 

Jason Yarde’s wonderfully rich music arrangements delivered that massive sound for which Jazz Jamaica is so well-reputed. And the band was joined for four songs by the exceptional local voices, Gang Of Angels Choir who put in an outstanding performance having had just one rehearsal with us just before performing it live! 

Brinsley had the audience on their feet, singing and dancing, cheering and whooping, and insisting on MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!… They just didn’t want to leave!  

 

Brinsley also sang a beautiful acapella tribute to our Lively Up! Project Manager, Fish Krish whose mother sadly passed away a week ahead of the start of the Festival. 

Sneak peak at a Catch A Fire rehearsal

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It was brilliant to hear some of Jason Yarde‘s magnificent arrangements for the first time. Sonically rich and sumptuous, we just can’t wait to hear the finished product! And thanks to our dear friends at Southbank Centre for very kindly hosting our stage rehearsal.

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Thanks also to our dear friend, photographer Ben Amure for popping into the rehearsal to take some photos for us.

 

New events added to Lively Up! Festival programme

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We’ve added two new events to our festival schedule as a result of new associations forged through our Lively Up! Festival programme:

The British Music Experience at the O2:

Seminal Albums: CATCH A FIRE – Impact and Legacy

20 September | 7.30pm

TALK:
 Tony Platt (Engineer on Catch A Fire), Gary Crosby OBE (Jazz Jamaica/Dune Music), Brinsley Forde (Aswad) and Kevin Le Gendre (Journalist)

OPEN VOCAL REHEARSAL: Jazz Jamaica All Stars Vocalists with Brinsley Forde, Gary Crosby, and Jason Yarde

Bob Marley and The Wailers’ 1973 album Catch a Fire is considered one of the top albums of all time. It established The Wailers as international superstars and introduced reggae to the university ‘rock listening’ crowd who were inspired by the socially aware lyrics, militant tone and optimistic view of a future free from oppression. It was the spark that ignited a revolution, a global Rasta revolution. This evening’s speakers look back on the making of Catch A Fire, and explore its impact and legacy on the music scene and the wider society. Read more…

***Lively Up Nugget*** As well as working on Bob Marley and The Wailers’ Catch A Fire album produced by Island Records boss Chris Blackwell, top sound engineer Tony Platt also recorded and mixed Jazz Jamaica All Stars’ album Massive produced by Dune label and Jazz Jamaica founder, Gary Crosby. Have a listen here.

And, for fans of visual arts, a feast for the eyes can be found in the not-to-be-missed exhibition at New Art Exchange, Nottingham: 

Exhibition:  I IS ANOTHER

28 September – 8 December

Launch Event: Thursday 27 September 2012

In 2012 the small island nation that has gained notoriety disproportionate to its size celebrates the 50th anniversary of independence. At this time it seems poignant to call for an independence of critical thought with regard to the island’s rich artistic community, often invisible to the rest of the world beyond the recording studio or stage, or dismissed as objects of tourist fancy. Read more…

 

Video: Catch A Fire trailer with Brinsley Forde, Gary Crosby + Jason Yarde

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Check out this short Catch A Fire trailer we made with our featured vocalist, reggae star Brinsley Forde, Gary Crosby (founder and leader of Jazz Jamaica) and Jason Yarde who is busily preparing some deep and fabulous big band arrangements for the forthcoming shows by Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Urban Soul Orchestra and, of course, Brinsley on vocals.

The actual concert features a 30-musician massive with full rhythm section, horns and reeds sections, strings sections, and backing vocalists (our take on the wonderful I-Threes!) so, for the moment, this is just a taster. 

Listen to the 20-piece Jazz Jamaica All Stars on their album Massive (Dune Records DUNECD06).

Then imagine this sound enlarged by 33% with strings, lead and backing vocals performing tracks from Catch A Fire…truly MASSIVE!

We’d love to know what you think so do feel free to leave a comment! We’ll be posting up the full lineup for you shortly. Enjoy!

 

Jazz Jamaica All Stars set to ignite the nation with Catch A Fire at the Lively Up Festival 2012

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If this tour were an album, it would be a collector’s item!

This is a call out to all music fans out there to lively up yourself and race along to one of 19 fantastic concerts and events in our new Lively Up! Festival coming to a city near you from 28 September-2 November. Festival headliners, the fiery Jazz Jamaica All Stars big band are back on the road after 8 long years and set to ignite audiences up and down the country when they team up with reggae star, Brinsley Forde and strings from Urban Soul Orchestra forCatch A Fire – a live, pulsating, roots-rock-reggae-jazz tribute to global superstars, Bob Marley and The Wailers with rich orchestrations by Jason Yarde.

 

Other acts confirmed in the Lively Up! Festival include the Nu Civilisation Orchestra whose Musical Director, Peter Edwards collaborates with visual artist, Emma Godebska to deliver a multidimensional, mixed media Parallel – A Tribute To Joe Harriott, the iconic Jamaican free form jazz saxophonist; Tomorrow’s Warriors collaborate with JazzCotech Dancers and the young Calypsonian Sheldon Skeete to host a Jamaican dance party with spectacular floorshow for the whole family; and Jazz Jamaica Family Fun Club presents Mango Spice, an interactive performance workshop for children and their carers to discover Jamaican folk songs and ring games.

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Other events hosted in association with Lively Up! include a panel discussion the British Music Experience, London (20 September) exploring the impact and legacy of Catch A Fire as part of the BME’s Seminal Album series – includes the chance to see an open rehearsal of Jazz Jamaica’s vocalists with Brinsley Forde, band leader Gary Crosby OBE, and music arranger, Jason Yarde. Also the I Is Another exhibition at New Art Exchange, Nottingham (28 September-8 December) highlighting some of the best contemporary talent in sculpture, painting, installation, photography, film, video and performance from across the hugely diverse Jamaican diaspora.

 

Produced by Dune Music in association with Tomorrow’s Warriors Lively Up! is a bold and ambitious festival of music touring 50 musicians and dancers to 10 cities around the country in a vibrant programme celebrating some of Jamaica’s most influential cultural icons. In 2012, the year in which Jamaica celebrates 50 years of independence, the festival will present 19 events in 17 venues from Southampton to Edinburgh through a series of concerts and participatory activities that offers something for everyone: children, adults and families.

 

Click here for all festival dates and take a look at this Bob Marley and The Wailers gig…enjoy! And hope to see you soon at the Lively Up! Festival.

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