Genuine Gypsy Jazz

Mito Loëffler and his sons Fléco and Zaiti Lafertin are Gypsies of the Manouche tribe.  They live with their family in a caravan in Alsace, part of a close-knit Gypsy community headed by Mito’s mother, the family matriarch.  They speak only Manouche with enough French to get by, so communication normally results in hysterics on both sides. They live and breathe Manouche music of all kinds, from traditional waltzes to gypsy jazz and, like all continental Gypsies, revere the memory of the great Django Reinhardt.

Gypsies begin to play as soon as they can hold a guitar, so a family trio always has very special chemistry.  Mito, Fléco and Zaiti are however exceptional – they are three of the most gentle, shy and ultra-traditional Gypsies one could ever hope to meet.  They are not cosmopolitan, international professionals; they are genuine Manouche Gypsies and this is therefore a unique opportunity to see them play. Their playing is not just a job to them – it is their life, it is what they do and as important to them as eating. When they play they are giving their audience a little part of their soul and thus their audiences instantly take them into their hearts. Their playing is charming, honest, bewitching, utterly entrancing and, when they visit the UK, they are guaranteed to have any audience spellbound.

Contemporary Bluesy Folk

Delighted to welcome back Chris and his wonderful 3-piece band.

Rootsy folky rhythm and blues, guitar, double bass, fiddle & accordion accompaniment.

Always a fabulous charismatic evening from this outstanding song-smith. Check out Chris’ excellent new CD “The Ridge” featuring, amongst others, John Etheridge: guitar, Charlie Hart: bass and Elliot Mackrell: fiddle.

And yes! Chris is Mick’s brother.

£9 music cover charge. Full regular menu.

Jill Sobule at the Crooked Billet – blinking heck!

Cult American songwriter/guitarist/singer. Her first album produced by legendary Todd Rundgren. Hit records including ‘I kissed a Girl’ and ‘Supermodel’. Jill’s work extensively used in film, TV & stage, including ‘Clueless’ soundtrack, hit Nickelodeon show ‘Unfabulous’ and Broadway show ‘Prozac and the Platypus’. Jill Sobule co-starred in the Eric Schaeffer film ‘Mind the Gap’.

She’s also a seriously good guitar player – toured the world as Lloyd Cole’s lead guitarist. Shared stages with Neil Diamond and Neil Young.

Jill Sobule belongs to a rare breed of artists. Her work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny and derisively tragic, tackling such topics as the death penalty, anorexia, shoplifting, reproduction, the French resistance movement and adolescence.

It is impossibly exciting she’s playing the Crooked Billet – nuts!

In the words of the New York Times “Jill Sobule can claim her place among the stellar New York singer – songwriters of the last decade. Topical funny and more than a little poignant…grown up music for an adolescent eye.”

DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW
IF YOU HAVE ANY AMERICAN FRIENDS – TELL THEM SOBULE IS PLAYING
Tickets £7 (A gift)

http://www.jillsobule.com

Celebrating Saint Patrick, fine music and Irish fare with the exceptional Irish Band ‘Hair of the Dog’. Fiddle, bodhran, pipes, whistles, strings, and Irish harp.  Guaranteed to get toes tapping with their infectious jigs and reels playing traditional Irish folk music, up tempo Guinness drinking stuff and of course, all those great bar room classics – Whisky in the jar, Malt and Whisky Ray, Irish Rover, etc.

I’ll cook up a few Irish specials, plenty of Galway Oysters, Soda Bread and Richard Corrigan’s fabulous Irish stew recipe (I’m sure the Irish just nicked Lancashire Hot Pot!) Dublin Lawyer, Champ, Drisheen, Boxty Pancakes, Pork Gubeens and Dublin Bay Prawns. There’s a Guinness stout promotion – an absolute corker of an evening.

Always a pleasure to welcome guitar gods Micky and George. The guys have winged to me about the way I describe them, apparently I’m showing off too much so they’ve asked me not to go on about playing with Jimi Hendrix and filling football stadiums. So here’s some new words…This is what Bob Margolin had to say of Papa George (Bob is Muddy Water’s guitarist). There’s one! That’s what I say to myself when I meet a musician – anywhere – any age – who is a powerful Deep Blues player. It happened again tonight – Papa George was playing solo and is a spectacular blues artist. He’s got power and nuance, he’s a master entertainer and pure player. I’ve become a big fan of his music.

Micky Moody’s best known for his time with Whitesnake, but he was also guitarist with Juicy Lucy, Snafu, Frankie Miller, Roger Chapman, Chris Farlowe and the Moody Marsden Band. A session guitarist of note, he also writes and produces his own albums. With Papa George, he helps create one of the biggest-sounding duos on the scene today, with a mixture of acoustic and electric blues ‘n’ roots favourites.

Tuesday 6th April – be mesmerised with the duo’s acoustic and electric performance, slide, blue grass, blues and early rock ‘n’ roll.

Tuesday 13th April

With very special guests Alan Grahame, Ken McCarthy, Mike Wills and Andy Crowdy

Celebrating the music of Lionel Hampton and Benny Goodman, who together record some of the finest ever jazz and enjoyed enormous popularity. Their band was the first racially intergrated jazz group to perform before wide audiences. Hampton was the first jazz vibraphone player, Goodman hailed as the greatest jazz ‘reed’  player; sax, clarinet. Their compositions include Vibe Boogie, How High the Moon, Moonglow, Memories of you, I got Rhythm, Stompin at the Savoy, Stardust, to name but a few.

Band leader of tonight’s quartet is the illustrious vibes player Alan Grahame – noteably from the Oscar Peterson Quintet also Michael Parkinson’s house band. On the very last Parkinson show viewers were treated to a clip of Oscar Peterson and Alan Grahame. Alan has recorded and toured the world with the likes of Tom Jones, Tony Bennet, Peggy Lee and Shirley Bassey. Ken McCarthy on piano – sensational musician (he’s Vince Hill’s musical director) Mike wills – clarinet and sax – steps into Benny Goodmans shoes. Crooked Billet favourite – the gorgeous Andy Crowdy on double bass. Going to be Brilliant!

PS! I’m a big fan of the theme tune to Tony Hart/ Vision On – one of the most recognisable vibraphone pieces, which I’ve persuaded the Alan Grahame quartet to perform on Tuesday 13th April.