Manchester trio GoGo Penguin are hotly tipped as the rising stars of the UK Jazz scene. Featuring pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner, GoGo Penguin are an exhilarating live act, drawing on a heady brew of influences from Aphex Twin to Shostakovich, Massive Attack to Manchester’s grey rain-streaked urban streets – they create a brave new sound all their own.
Their début album Fanfares (Gondwana Records) has won rave reviews from the Guardian to BBC Music and support from the likes of Mike Chadwick and Gilles Peterson and was nominated for Best Jazz...
Stiff Little Fingers were formed in 1977 in Belfast, Ireland. Along with the likes of the Clash, Sex Pistols, The Jam, Buzzcocks, Undertones, Sham 69, Stranglers, et al – Stiff Little Fingers were at the forefront of the punk movement.
They wrote initially about their own lives, growing up at the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, in songs like “Suspect Device” and “Wasted Life”.
In November of ’77, they released those two songs on their own Rigid Digits label, and sent a copy to BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, who started playing it every night.
Marking its 40th anniversary, keyboard ace Matthew Bourne (The Leaf Label), Franck Vigroux on electronics and installation artist Antoine Schmitt explore Kraftwerk’s seminal 1975 album Radio-Activity as a live performance experience, for the first time ever.
Following their own personal paths through this incredible work, Bourne, Vigroux and Schmitt will turn Radio-Activity inside out, radically re-working this ground breaking album in their own inimitable way.
A bank of analogue and digital instruments provide the mothership from which this Anglo-French union travels...
Impromptu, 10-piece, jazz meets contemporary music ensemble. Spontaneous realisation of unconventional “scores” by Pete Canter and others as part of the Exeter Vibraphonic Festival. Improvised music but within constraints laid down by the composer. The first half will be a suite composed by Pete Canter. The second half will include video scores created by Marcus Vergette and other improvised music.
The ensemble is packed with talent from the South West jazz and classical music scene:
Ground breaking UK jazz trio Troyka release their latest album, Ornithophobia, in January. Following a stellar year of festival performances including Latitude, Cheltenham, Love Supreme, Green Hours, Elb Jazz, Nattjazz, Duketown and Jazz a la Villette the band embark on a full European tour. Multi-textured and with a wild and ground breaking style, they feature Mercury Music Prize nominee and BBC Award Winner Kit Downes on drums.
Tickets £12 (£10)* standing
*Please note that there is a £1.50 fee per transaction
Those who know Duke Special for the platinum album ‘Songs From The Deep Forest’ and the hit song ‘Freewheel’ may be surprised by the breadth of his work. His journey so far has seen him taking on projects as diverse as writing the theme tune for the Irish Sesame Street to writing the music for and appearing in Deborah Warner’s critically acclaimed 2009 production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children at London’s National Theatre. From presenting a documentary on the life and times of 50s megastar Ruby Murray to being commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York...
Hailed by many as one of Nashville’s best contemporary songwriters, Gretchen Peters’ intelligent and introspective songs have been covered by pop, country, blues and folk artists all over the world. She possesses a rare ability to drive a strong point, yet capture it eloquently in song. That ability has won Peters two Grammy nominations and sold her millions of records worldwide.
The latest accolade for the Nashville-based singer-songwriter will be her induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014. There she’ll join the list of 192 existing inductees which...
Mad Dog Mcrea blend a unique mixture of folk rock, pop, gypsy jazz, bluegrass and ‘shake your ass’ music. From self-penned songs of adventure, drinking, love and life, to traditional songs of gypsies, fairies, legless pirates and black flies – Mad Dog never fail to capture their audience with their infectious songs.
In constant demand and having played just about every festival and two-bit, jibe-arsed dive in Christendom Mad Dog Mcrea return to tour the UK this autumn on their Longer Road Tour 2014.
The famous purple happy bus is fired up and ready for action, and there’s...
Martha is a captivating performer, an enchanting young singer-songwriter blessed with a gloriously clear and seductive voice. Her songs are exquisitely melodic and rooted in environmental, human and social issues as well as celebrating love, inner peace and the natural world.
Tickets £12*
*Please note that there is a £1.50 booking fee per transaction
