The Best Band You’ve Never Heard – Click
Nov 2, 2010 The Best Band You've Never Heard
I have just come across this group, Click. A vocal jazz group out of London.
Click are a six-piece London-based vocal jazz group with a strictly voice-only policy. They aim to recreate the sounds of big band jazz without instruments. I hear that they are a fun group to watch and I am not sure that the clip does them justice. Formed out of the well regarded Oxford Gargoyles they are well worth looking out for if you are in London.
The parent group, the Oxford Gargoyles have released several CDs. Here they are performing “I get a Kick Out of You”. Sinatra it aint, but they would give you a good night out.
Tags: big band jazz, click, oxford gargoyles, real rock and blues, rock and blues, vocal jazz
The Best Band You Never Heard 1
Oct 4, 2010 The Best Band You've Never Heard
Over the last couple of weeks I have been two stonkingly good gigs. Both by the same duo Akoustic Soul.
Now, I know them, but that does not mean that I am biased. I know some of the other local bands but they will not feature in this series. Akoustic Soul Are; Andrew Wilson (guitars) and Kimberly Hill (vocals).
I have known Andrew since he was about 12, he’s 22 now. When I first met him his father said that he was learning the guitar. Even then I was reluctant to show him a few licks – mainly ‘cos I did not have have any good ones (still don’t). He was gratifyingly impressed by my guitars however, a ‘76 Strat and ’80s Les Paul DeLux (Starburst, of course). I can’t play them but they look good……
I did not think anything more about this aspiring guitar hero until about 3 years later. It was his dad’s 40th birthday party. Andrew and his friends were to provide the music for the party. They played in the garage that had been turned into a makeshift bar.
I was prepared to make insincere “Oh, aren’t they good?” type comments. No need after 3 years of playing and learning it was obvious that Andrew was talented. I was really relieved that I had not shown him my handful of banal guitar licks.
A couple of years later, after his exams, Andrew went to Spain to find a bar to play in and to teach flamenco guitar. Quite a bold plan for an 18 year old.
That worked out well and Andrew stayed there fo a couple of years. When he returned he said that he was going to give music a go and that he had a singer who was going to come over to join him.
Kimberly is has a voice that is mature betyond her years. It is a great jazz voice that is perfectly suited for songs like “Summertim” as well as being able to interpret and deliver great versions of rockers like “Sweet Chil’ O’ Mine”.
How are they getting on? Put it this way, they were booked to play one night in a bar a few miles away where they are not known. At the end of the night the owner paid them MORE than was agreed and booked them there and then for several more dates! That shows how good they are live.
The scary thing? When I first heard them play they were pretty good, after a couple of months they released their self produced CD and were better. A couple of months later still I saw them live again and they were even better, tighter, better PA, more confident. Just how much better can they be? I have no idea, but I am looking forward to it.
Tags: akoustic soul, live music, love rock music, new bands, rock and blues
The best Band You Never Heard – The Singing Postman
Sep 14, 2010 The Best Band You've Never Heard
I began to thinking the other day about someone who was quite big in 1966, infact he outsold the Beatles and the Stones, well, for one week anyway.
That man was the singing postman AKA Alan Smethurst. He really was a postman. He lived in and loved Norfolk, its people, its dialect and its ‘not quite of this world’ quality.
He was born in 1927 and moved with his mother to Norfolk when he was a young lad. Later when she moved away he could not bring himself to leave. After trying several jobs he became a postman. On his round he hummed his hums, sang his songs and was happy (as far as we know). In 1959 he sent a tape of his songs to a local BBC radio station and then began performing on a Wednesday morning show hosted by Ralph Tuck.
His songs were written and sung in a broad Norfolk accent using dialect that was disappearing even then. He celebrated a time that was also disappearing as the all the country became bland and the same. As they were written in dialect many people (including me at the time) wrote them off as novelty songs of no value. Like many others I missed their true worth.
Several years later he recorded some songs on a small (very small) local record label and there began to be interest in his work outside of Norfolk. Eventually he was signed by Parlaphone (who also had The Beatles on their books). Fame beckoned as ‘Hev Yew Got a Loight Boy’ became a hit. The future was bright (perhaps even bright enough to wear shades – a reference to another one hit wonder, get it?).
However, Alan hated performing live, a chronic case of stage fright stopped him performing in the pop tours that were so popular, and well paid. He could play and sing in front of 20 people, but 200, 2,000? No way.
Gradually, not that gradually actually, he fell from view. A drink habit began to grow, he had tried to use alcohol to help with stage fright but thatb had not worked. Without gigs that needed dutch courage all he had left was the dutch courage. Various run ins with the law followed. I seem to remember reading about an incident that had Alan attacking his stepfather with a cooking pot, perhaps a frying pan. In any event the decline was well advanmced.
Eventually, he moved into the Salvation Army hostel in Grimsby. He stayed there foe 20 years dieing in December 2000 aged 73.
The world moves on. He is hardly remembered now, a part of the past, as is the Norfolk dialect he loved and the long gone old ways of a very distinctive English county.
Tags: alan smethurst, norfolk, outsold the beatles, outsold the Stones, parlaphone, ralph tuck, rock and blues, the singing postman
Vamika – The Best band You’ve Never Heard (2)
Apr 28, 2010 The Best Band You've Never Heard
Well, you would not have as they have only played one gig so far with another lined up for 7th May at 9.00pm at The Pleasant Retreat in Lostock hall, Lancashire, UK.
However, they have previous. Until part way through 2009 they were Crimzon, a gigging band with a dedicated local following in this part of the country, and bloody good they were too.
My knowledge of them started a number of years ago. At that time I had a programme on a community radio station. One day a friend (Dave Sharples) sidled up and says ‘Phil, me and a couple of friends have recorded a few songs, what do you think?’
Now, the trouble with being given a home recorded CD is that they are usually crap, and you have to think of how to be polite when asked what you thought of it.
On this occasion I should have had no fears. They were good. In particular Dave had found a singer with a great voice, Amy Murrell.
Over a period of time I saw them often and had them in the studio a couple of times. During that time I saw their progress and witnessed Amy’s development and the growth of her confidence.
Then they went the way of all flesh……
Enter Vamika.
Vamika refers to the Hindu goddess Durga. Durga is a form of Devi (Hindu dieties and the relationship between them can seem quite complicated when you first investigate them). Devi is a supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having ten arms, riding a lion or a tiger, carrying weapons and a lotus flower, maintaining a meditative smile, and practicing mudras. Durga herself is said to be able to “redeem in situations of utmost distress”
Anyway, enough of the name the important thing is the music.
The band is;
AMY MURRELL Vocalist & Belly Dancer
DAVE SHARPLES Lead Guitarist
DAMIEN WELLMAN Bass Guitarist
JIM LEWIS Drummer
check them out at www.myspace.com/vamikarockband
Tags: amy murrell, dave sharples, love rock music, real rock and blues, rock and blues, vamika
