Swing Guitars
Scotlands pre-eminent guitar duo Swing Guitars came together through a mutual admiration of the music of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, but the duo are not concerned about slavish imitation and infuse the music with their own highly spirited personal style. Now well established on the live circuit and festival scene, Swing Guitars have gained a deserved reputation as a formidable and highly entertaining live act. Since first coming to prominence on the Celtic Connections open stage, Swing Guitars have graced stages around the UK and Europe with such performers as John Jorgenson, Bob Brozman, Woody Mann, John Goldie, The Incredible String Band, Tony McManus and many others. The duo has also contributed music for the Scottish Television “This Scotland” documentary series. Their most recent CD “Thirty Two Notes In A Heartbeat” was reviewed enthusiastically and received extensive radio play, which, along with live performances on national television and radio, has enabled Swing Guitars to take their music further afield into the global marketplace
Reviews/ Quotes
“I very much enjoyed meeting and playing with Tom and Tam - they did a great job with no rehearsal at all! I will look forward to the next chance to meet up with them for some more jamming”. – John Jorgenson
“Their nippy fingers pay hot tribute to their hero” – The Herald
“Swing Guitars have moved on from being a Django “covers band”… to being a highly skilled, highly entertaining live act.” – The Living Tradition
“…a stunning show that had a packed Royal Concert Hall in raptures…” – Metro
Academy Swing
“Academy Swing”, the swing band of Rothesay Joint Campus have been performing at the Bute Jazz Festival since 2004 and this year will be opening the festival. The band has made quite a reputation for itself in the past few years and performs regularly in the local community and further a field at venues such as the Loch Fyne food fair. It has also toured regularly throughout Argyll giving community concerts and schools demonstration performances on Islay, Mull, Oban and Mid Kintyre.
Academy Swing plays in a varied selection of styles, from trad jazz through to big band, through to present day popular music. The band is led by Tony Spencer, the Island’s Instrumental Music Teacher. Tony is a professional clarinettist who for fourteen years held the post of principal clarinet with the Band of the Grenadier Guards in London.
Bobby Wishart Group
Bobby Wishart is one of the greatest jazz musicians in the UK.
His band is a byword for quality and one of the finest combos performing today. When you consider the people that Bobby has worked with you begin to realise why he has such a big reputation in the world of music.
Over the years Bobby regularly performs and broadcasts with his own groups which feature the very best of the young, as well as the more established Scottish players including…
- Carol Kidd, Voted UK No 1 Jazz Vocalist
- David Newton, Voted UK No 1 Jazz Pianist
- Sandro Ciancio, percussionist - the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and a member of Hue&Cry.
- Robert Henderson BAFTA nominated Composer Arranger Trumpeter
- Gino Ciancio No 1 Maltese Jazz & Fusion Pianist, Arranger/ Composer
- Grant Mitchell, Pianist Arranger Producer with Lisa Stanfield
- Ewan Vernal – Deacon Blue & Capercaillie
- Graeme Duffin Guitarist Wet Wet Wet.
Bobby has also performed with Ronnie Scott, Annie Ross, Salena Jones, Kiki Dee, Maggie Bell, Stevie Winwood, John Barry (Composer of Film Scores) Memphis Slim and Marion Montgomery to name just a few.
He plays on the Soundtracks for “Chewin The Fat”, “Offside”- Tam Cowan, and the Karen Dunbar series as well as an appearance on BBC TOTP’s with the Graham Lyle Band
Other credits include Lecturer in Jazz and All Music Course Jordanhill College, Founder/ Lecturer in Jazz Improvisation and Jazz Saxophone RSAM, Founder and Musical Director National Jazz Institute, Founder Member and Artistic Director, European Youth Jazz Festival and Member of Music Committee Scottish Arts Council.
Keith Stephen’s Hot Club Trio
The band plays the music of Django Reinhardt and Hot Club style jazz. The band consists of Keith Stephen on lead guitar, 6-string banjo, tenor banjo and ukulele; Roly Veitch on rhythm guitar and vocals and Bruce Rollo on double bass. Young singer Caroline Irwin joins the band on certain gigs. The band is sometimes augmented with a reed player or violin. The band have played with Bill Smith (reeds), John Hallam (reeds) and Mike Piggott (violin) on many occasions and are also playing with Tim Kliphuis, Enrico Tomasso, Frank Brooker, and others in the coming year.
Penman’s Jazzmen
Formed in 1959 ‘The George Penman Jazzmen’ established a large following for their music. The musical capabilities of the band were proven when in 1961 they won a Scottish Band Championship and in the following year lifted all the major awards at the North Scotland Jazz Festival.
With numerous appearances on Radio, Television and recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios with Thorn/EMI label the band have gone from strength to strength.
Sadly George Penman passed away in 2009, however the band still continues playing gigs all over the country, including a regular slot at ‘King Tuts’ in Glasgow every Saturday afternoon.
Brass Impact
Live & Swingin’ is Scotland Premier tribute to the kings and queens of big band jazz and swing (past and present) and a nice helping of blues, rock, Motown and soul, if you need it. Based in Paisley, and playing in the style of the ever popular big bands, their main aim is to provide audiences with the opportunity to experience big band like they’ve never heard it before. The horn section, made up of trumpets, mellophones, a tenor saxophone, and valve trombones gives us a very unique and exciting sound.
This unique sound comes from the use of some ‘non-traditional’ big band instruments such as mellophones, which produce a very distinctive sound similar to that of the mellophoniums used by the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the early 1960’s, and the little used ‘valve’ trombones. Mixed cleverly with the more traditional trumpets and saxophones, the mellophones and valve trombones allow the band to add that extra ‘kick’ to the big swing numbers, as well as a rich, warm and luscious sound for the most delicate of ballads and vocal arrangements. The unique brass sound is fused together with the drive and excitement of the rhythm section, with the fabulous vocal talents of brother and sister duo, Iain Ewing and Pat Keating adding the finishing touches to our presentation.
The Big Chris Barber Band
British jazz trombonist Chris Barber celebrates his 60th year as a bandleader in 2008-2009. Inspired by the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, Chris formed his first Barber New Orleans Band in 1949 at the age of nineteen. In 1953, along with Monty Sunshine and Lonnie Donegan, he joined forces with Ken Colyer. Then, with the replacement of Colyer by Pat Halcox, Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen became Chris Barber’s Jazz Band in 1954 and has been one of Europe’s most successful traditional jazz bands ever since.
Over the years, Chris Barber’s Jazz Band evolved into the Chris Barber Jazz and Blues Band, a rich eight-piece group, blending brass, reeds, and electric guitar into a unique and unmistakable mix of blues and jazz. And despite being ‘on the slide’ since 1949, having performed over 10,000 concerts and made thousands of recordings, the Chris Barber Band keeps marching on, right into the 21st century. At the end of 2001 Chris extended his band with three more musicians into The BIG Chris Barber Band.
Acousticrat
The story so far…… PAUL TEMPLEMAN is a well-known musician, music promoter and music teacher from the North East of England. For the last few years Paul has played assorted stringed instruments in roots-rock band Snake Oil and more recently with singer-songwriter Jack Burness. He also toured and recorded with Bob Purves (of George Harrison proteges, Splinter) the late, great Tim Rose (writer of the Jimi Hendrix hit “Hey Joe”) and Austin-based Americana legend Bob Cheevers. It was during a Cheevers tour gig at The Boat in Rothesay, Isle Of Bute, that Paul first met SAM TWEEDLIE and PAUL MELVIN. Paul Melvin at that time owned The Boat venue and Sam provided PA and played the opening set.
Sam had earned his stripes playing traditional folk music on the pub/club scene throughout the UK and Europe as a solo artist, and with the band “Ceabhar”. A year or so later while playing a second gig at the Boat with Bob Cheevers, Paul T. and his partner Susan decided their lives needed a change of pace and scenery. So, they sold up, and moved to the Isle of Bute. A chance meeting with Sam at a local bar became an invite for Paul to play bass with himself and Paul Melvin in their duo “Nervous Rex” and an offer of a job teaching sound-engineering at the local college. When Paul T. discovered that Sam was a prolific and talented songwriter the direction of the trio quickly changed from a bar-gig covers band into the rootsy, acoustic sound that is “Acousticrat”, performing mostly original material drawing from an eclectic source of influences. In addition to Sam’s songs the latest material is co-written by Sam, Paul Melvin and local lyricist Sara Goss.
An Acousticrat live show is based around the songs and vocal harmonies of Sam & Paul M., with Paul T. on Weissenborn, mandolin, mandocello, lap steel, dulcimer and assorted guitars. Since their first gigs in September 07 (opening for New York City singer-songwriters Mike Ferrio [Tandy] and Mary Lee Cortez [Mary Lee’s Corvette] and Brooklyn-based band Slim Francis) the band have toured the Netherlands, Finland, the North East of England and established their popular “Sunday Session” residency on the Isle Of Bute. www.myspace.com/butesundaysession The tracks here are from our debut album, released October 2009. When not playing in Acousticrat Sam manages and teaches the NC Music Perfomance course at Rothesay Learning Centre. Paul Melvin owns and operates Rothesay’s finest hotel “The Boathouse”. Paul Templeman teaches on the NC music course, is consultant/product demonstrator for Woodies UK Ltd (manufacturer of the unique G-band partial capo) and owns Rothesay Music www.rothesaymusic.co.uk Paul is proud to be an Ovation Guitars endorsee.
The Tim Saul Modern Jazz Trio
The trio was formed in 2005 and we also play in a local trad band with Phil Mason (of All Stars fame). We are available for bookings for your party, wedding, etc.
We have a Myspace page with some of our music uploaded for you to enjoy. CLICK HERE to visit our page.
Current members of our trio are:
Paul McKay (bass) plays fretless 5 string upright electric double bass and also a Yamaha fretless 5 string bass guitar and uses Ashdown bass amplification. He recently acquired a new Ashdown Super Fly amplifier which is alleged to prevent hernias, but we have yet to see the results and he is always constructing new speaker cabinets which are allegedly lighter than their predecessors. Paul played professionally for many years in the world famous Halle Orchestra and brings a wealth of experience to our music.
Tim Saul (keyboards) plays Roland digital pianos and Hammond organ and uses Roland keyboard amplification. The current piano is a much used (and very heavy) RD150 model with Roland KC amplifier and a new addition, a Hammond XK-1 drawbar organ which feature on the audio tracks on the MySpace page. Tim also teaches jazz theory, guitar and bass guitar at the local Rothesay Academy and was also a part-time tutor on the Argyll College NC music course. His musical experience covers 45 years, playing in dance bands, big bands trad & modern jazz ensembles and covers all styles from The St. Bernard’s Waltz to jazz funk & fusion.
David Gray plays kit drums and also appears with the Phil Mason Jazz Friends with Tim & Paul on their monthly Trad jazz extravaganza at The Esplanade Hotel in Rothesay.
We now a have a fourth member of the band. Caroline Gorman has joined as our vocalist and specialises in the songs of Billie Holiday. Caroline appeared with the trio at the Isle of Bute Jazz Festival in May 2008 and won a great reception from the audience.
John Denman also appears with us from time to time, playing vibraphone. John is a talented organist with a vast repertoire and brings his esperience to our band to recreate the sounds of the MJQ.
We have also enjoyed working with Jonny Boston at the 2009 Bute Jazz Festival and also with Norman King (tenor sax), presently working in Thailand, who is a regular guest with the trio during his UK visits
T.J.Johnson Band
TJ Johnson is widely considered to be one of the UK’s finest jazz and blues singers. He is also an accomplished piano player, drummer and a respected bandleader. Always a true ambassador of the soul, TJ sings songs of love lost and gained, of life wholesome and corrupt, songs of hope, songs of the night, all with the true passion and boozy swagger of only a man who has been there and knows.
Backed by his group of top British musicians TJ plays an extraordinary blend of music that transcends the boundaries of jazz, blues, soul, country and gospel and is influenced by the likes of Ray Charles, Dr John, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, BB King, Nina Simone, Alberta Hunter, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Witherspoon and many more. His distinctive voice and unique personal stage manner brings both the band and the audience together to create an intimate yet exciting atmosphere that is rarely equalled.
