Welcome to the Jazz at the Albert website.
Girlyman from Atlanta, Georgia visit Bristol next week and the three part harmony sounds are spot-on as well as the great musicianship for this lively, entertaining band.
Steve Tilston in trio format with my old mucker Keith Warmington and Stuart Gordon at Colston Hall 2 promises to be a good one.
If you like your jazz with a cutting, contemporary edge then the double-header Match&Fuse project on Thurs 14 June is not to be missed, youthful, high-energy stuff from the UK and France. Some of the most original jazz currently in the UK from Dave Morecoft’s, World Service Project.
Girlyman (USA)
Wed 23 May 7:30 for 8:15 (£12/10)Hen and Chicken (info + bookings)
Achingly, meltingly magnificent. I'm completely knocked out with this band Girlyman, they have the most beautiful harmonies I've heard in a long, long time
~ Frank Hennessy, Celtic Heartbeat, January 2010
Their playful approach to music and touring was born after the band’s first rehearsal (Sept’ 01) in their home base of Atlanta, Georgia. It was postponed, but the events of that day set the course for the future: “We decided to just have fun,” explains Nate, “and not take ourselves too seriously. We started by naming our new band Girlyman.”
After Girlyman’s first gig they earned enough to buy a milkshake!
Now they sell out venues everywhere and have become far more famous. Filling the seats is just part of their connection to audiences. Fans drive hundreds of miles to hear their three-part harmonies. If they live overseas, they make a special trip to seek them out in America. If they bring friends, the newcomers leave hooked. ....read more
Everything’s Easy in 2009 was the #1 selling album on CD Baby – that’s No: 1 of 278,510
Winners of the Independent Music Awards – Best USA Singer/Songwriters
girlyman.comSteve Tilston Trio
Sun 10 Jun 7:30 for 8:00 (£13/11***)Colston Hall 2 (info + bookings)
Award winning singer-songwriter Steve Tilston returns to Bristol the city that for many reasons has played a major part in his life. It was here that Steve recorded his first album An Acoustic Confusion on the fledgling Village Thing label, he wrote some of his best-loved songs whilst living in the city and it is 15th century Bristol that provides much of the backdrop for his first novel All for Poor Jack.
Forty years on and he’s on as fine form as ever with no signs of him slowing down just yet… his latest release The Reckoning garnering him the Best Original Song” accolade at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards earlier this year, plus invitations to appear on Later with Jools Holland, and BBC Four’s Songwriters’ Circle and four-star reviews in the media. ....read more
stevetilston.comDouble Header Gig - Match & Fuse project
Thu 14 Jun 7:30 for 8:15 (£12/10)Hen and Chicken (info + bookings)
Match & Fuse is a touring exchange programme set up by World Service Project to enable them to perform with other like-minded artists and groups across Europe and for those groups to come to the UK. The aim is that these groups will be able to learn from one another, share cultural backgrounds and to build up relations and fan bases across Europe for their music to reach wider audiences. matchandfuse.tumblr.com
This particular tour sees the WSP alongside French anarchic group Alfie Ryner, a mysterious pseudonym for a despot trumpeter. Both bands perform separate sets and then come together to interact with each other at the end. In essence, imagine a four-way cage match between Frank Zappa, Weather Report, Stravinsky and Meshuggah. Previous match up’s have included SynKoke (Norway), Schulbus (Germany), RedivideR (Ireland) and Tribraco (Italy).
I have been trying to help Dave Morecroft with this exciting and different project and finally we have managed to link in to what could become more regular combinations with bands from across
the continent. This is not for the faint hearted but is full of energy and verve.
Light the blue touch paper and move well to the front for full impact!! ....read more
Otis Gibbs (USA)
Tue 3 Jul 7:30 for 8:15 (£12/10)Hen and Chicken (info + bookings)
Looking like he should be the Kingpin of your local Hells Angel chapter, straight out of central casting for a ZZ Top stunt double, Otis Gibbs is neither of these, just an honest Joe with a bunch of great songs and some very funny tales of his meanderings around the world. A man trying to live decently in an indecent world!
A firm favourite and often stage partner of Billy Bragg's, with song-writing compared to Woody Guthrie, Steve Earle, and Bruce Springsteen, Otis returns with his songbook bursting with political and social issues.
As his own bumper sticker professes: He’s a writer of songs, a teller of tales, populist agitator, social dissenter, photographer, musician and iconoclast. It also states: All the great changes in society start with two people just like you and me. I wanna’ change it with you! .... read more
There is an authenticity and dedication in Gibbs' delivery which is somehow cleansing in its purity. ~ The Independent
otisgibbs.com