Tag Archives: The Wailers

4-star REVIEW for CATCH A FIRE at Usher Hall

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Wow! Another 4-star review for Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Urban Soul Orchestra and Brinsley Forde, this time from Rob Adams writing for the Herald about the grand finale to the Catch A Fire tour and closing night of the Lively Up! Festival. And what a night it was!

Warm and very special thanks go to the Tinderbox Orchestra for setting the fuse for the final gig of our first Catch A Fire tour (we hope to do more!), and helping to make the closing night of the Lively Up! Festival utterly electric. You guys didn’t get a mention in the Herald review, but we were all seriously impressed with your performance and look forward to working with you under the aegis of Tomorrow’s Warriors. Soon come…!

We had a ball at Usher Hall. Big thanks to Karl Chapman for keeping faith with our ability to deliver the most amazing show. With over 1,000 pre-sales, we knew we were going to have a fantastic audience for our last night and what better place to have our party than in Edinburgh. It was a blast and we’re all still buzzing from it. Brilliant! 

We’ll post up the video from Edinburgh shortly, including the train journey home when we were joined by some Scottish footie fans on their way to Newcastle who refused to let Brinsley continue his journey without a song! One Love – it was a hoot! Watch this space…

Meantime, here is the 4-star review (thanks Rob!):

“Tweet if you’re having fun!” was the instruction from the stage and the information sheet handed out on arrival. It took a song or four before visible signs of enjoyment broke out in the audience, which wasn’t due, surely, to bassist and artistic director Gary Crosby’s mock-stern “don’t dance, this is serious music” directive being taken literally. But once one lone dancer had led the way, there was as much of a party going on in the stalls as there was on the stage. READ ON…

 

 

VIDEO: CATCH A FIRE – What the Leeds audience thought of it

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We said the lovely people of Leeds had a fantastic time at Catch A Fire at the Town Hall last week. Don’t just take our word for it…watch this! And this response has been replicated at every venue the Lively Up! Festival has been to! AWESOME! Congratulations to all of our wonderful Festival artists!

CATCH A FIRE – The fire’s still burning bright at Leeds Town Hall

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What a brilliant gig! The band is still buzzin’ and vibin’ off the magical feeling created by last week’s London show, and the people of Leeds turned out in their hundreds to come see what all the fuss is about. This show is just getting stronger and stronger…nobody wants it to end! And it’s such great fun with these guys and girls. They are an amazing bunch of musicians and a real delight to work with.

Anyway, thought we’d try out a panoramic shot with the new office camera. Not bad for a first attempt, but just wanted to give you a sense of the ‘room’ we played in – an absolutely stunning Victorian building with baroque and classical architecture. Just beautiful.

As for the audience in Leeds, well, as with all the other cities, they were WILD for Catch A Fire! Nobody wants this tour to end!

 

 

4-stars FT Review: CATCH A FIRE – A grand-scale tribute to the 1973 landmark recording

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Oh wow! What a fantastic review of the Catch A Fire show at QEH by the lovely Mike Hobart for the Financial Times. You know, the show sold out a full two weeks ahead of time, yet people were still queuing up outside the venue trying to get their hands on tickets for the show on the night. Incredible! But a real testimony to just how great this show is. Anyway, check out what the FT had to say about it:

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The 1973 album Catch a Fire established Bob Marley and the Wailers internationally and launched reggae on to the world stage. This gig, featuring a 31-piece orchestra and an 80-voice choir, was a grand-scale tribute to this landmark recording, and, as part of the touring Lively Up! Festival, at the same time marked the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence. Read on…

Jazzwise Review: JAZZ JAMAICA ALL STARS evoke the true spirit of Marley

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Ooh, another excellent review, this time from Black Music specialist, Kevin Le Gendre writing here for Jazzwise Magazine. Those of you who attended the Catch A Fire talk at the British Music Experience at the very start of the Lively Up! Festival will remember Kevin chaired an eminent panel of Tony Platt, Gary Crosby and Brinsley Forde talking about the making of Catch A Fire and its global impact. 

Like everyone else who went to the London Catch A Fire live show, he had a fantastic time!

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In 1973, when Bob Marley & The Wailers cut Catch A Fire, a landmark album not just in reggae but modern popular music, Jamaica as a sovereign state was just over a decade old. No greater celebration of the country’s 50th anniversary of independence could be conceived than in the form of Jazz Jamaica All Stars’ take on that chef d’oeuvre, because, to a large extent, the ‘small island’ has grown up with that original rebel music, so proud and defiant in tone, as an unofficial soundtrack. The re-imagining is about scale.  Read on…

 

Another CATCH A FIRE review from London Jazz/Rob Edgar

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Here you go! Another review of the London Catch A Fire show. 

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1962 saw Jamaica confirm its status as an independent country. Last night saw the London leg of the Lively Up! Festival tour at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, one of 7 dates around the UK celebrating this with a reworking of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ seminal debut Catch a Fire, plus other well-known tunes.

The sold out concert featured the Jazz Jamaica All Stars, The Urban Soul Orchestra under the baton and watchful eye of Kevin Robinson, and Voicelab.  Read more…

 

FROM ALPHA TO THE QEH: review of CATCH A FIRE by Paul Bradshaw

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A fab review by the great Paul Bradshaw (Straight No Chaser) on his blog Ancient To Future – thanks Paul!

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The Lively Up tour arrived in London town last night and the Queen Elizabeth Hall was rammed to capacity. There was genuine sense of anticipation in the air and as one scanned the stage which was set up to accommodate not just a full force – 30 strong – Jazz Jamaica but also the strings of the Urban Soul Orchestra one wondered how this project was going to drop…Read on 

 

ONE LOVE: Review of CATCH A FIRE by Stephen Graham

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Gold medal for the first review out of the blocks goes to the lovely Stephen Graham, with pics by Roger Thomas. (Thanks for coming Stephen and Roger – was great to see you!)

With over 110 people on the stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London last night the Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Urban Soul Orchestra and Voicelab with special guest Brinsley Forde celebrated 50 years of Jamaican independence in some style with a themed concert based on Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1973 classic album Catch a Fire.  Read on…

 

CATCH A FIRE London Show A Complete TRIUMPH at Southbank Centre!

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WOWWWWW! Last night’s sold out Catch A Fire show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank Centre went off the Richter Scale of AWESOMENESS! 

‘Completely triumphant’ is how the venue described it!

We’re all still buzzing from the vibe. As ever, Brinsley Forde was FABULOUS and the guys and gals of Jazz Jamaica All Stars and Urban Soul Orchestra were OUTSTANDING! The 75-voice VoiceLab Choir was just INCREDIBLE thanks to the MAGNIFICENT direction of Mark de-Lisser.

What a FANTASTIC audience, everyone dancing and smiling. We can’t find words for it so here are some of the messages left for us on the walls of the QEH foyer by members of the audience:

 

Pure Joy x

Great atmosphere with a dream band. Had the time of my life. Many thanks x

Amazing. Proud to be Jamaican. Happy Birthday Jamaica.

A Wonderful concept. So much History, Stories and Song in tonight’s show. The playing was Immense. More More Please !! Loved it so much.

From Trenchtown to the Southbank. THIS IS CREATIVITY. You lifted my soul mind and body ( in that order) Thank you all + keep going!

This was truly a fantastic experience. Just what the good doctor ordered. Well done Guys.

Catch a Fire! Catch it while you can. It’s great!!

Wish Queen Elizabeth was here. She wuda got up and SKANKED! Thank you. JJ.

Well done guys. You have done Jamaica proud!

Thanks so much to all who supported this show, especially our volunteers – Ijeoma, James and Will and all our wonderful Lively Up! Festival team.

Desperate man grapples with Jazz Jamaica leader outside @SouthbankCentre for ticket to @LivelyUpFest Catch A Fire show!

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It’s no use…even Gary Crosby, Jazz Jamaica’s esteemed band leader, doesn’t have any spare tickets for the COMPLETELY SOLD OUT Catch A Fire show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre next Wednesday (24 Oct) with Brinsley Forde, Urban Soul Orchestra and the amazing 70+voice VoiceLab choir!

However, you can still get to see this fabulous show at:

 

Fri 26 Oct  LEEDS  Leeds Town Hall  0113 224 3801 

 Wed 31 Oct  LEICESTER  De Montfort Hall  0116 233 3111 (with the fabulous Amika Choir!!)

Fri 02 Nov  EDINBURGH  Usher Hall  0131 228 1155 (last night of the tour – PAR-TAYYYY!)